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Akawor Seeks Media Support For Fubara …Receives More APC Decampees …Reveals Process For PDP Guber Candidate’s Selection
The Rivers State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Amb. Desmond Akawor, has, again enlisted the support of the media to ensure the success of the governorship candidate of the party, Sir Siminialayi Fubara in the 2023 elections.
Akawor made the call, last Thursday, in Port Harcourt, when he received two groups of decampees of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who joined the PDP, recently, at the PDP Secretariat.
The decampees were at the secretariat to renounce their membership of the APC.
The first group was led by a former commissioner in the state and former governorship aspirant on the platform of the PDP, Chief David Briggs.
Briggs led the group of decampees from the APC to the PDP Secretariat where they interacted with Akawor.
The decampees comprised mostly of prominent APC members from Kalabariland.
Also, another group of decampees comprising members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm and newspaper publishers in the state who were members of the APC were at the PDP secretariat to denounce membership of the party.
The decampees, who are under the auspices of the Port Harcourt Press, were led to the party secretariat by a chieftain of the PDP and publisher of the Port Harcourt Telegraph Newspapers, Hon Ogbonna Nwuke.
Also in the team that visited the PDP chairman with the decampees were Publisher of the National Network Newspaper, Pastor Jerry Needam; and Publisher of the TopNews, Chief Ngor Martins-Yellow, both PDP chieftains.
Receiving the decampees, Chairman of the PDP in Rivers State, Amb. Desmond Akawor, expressed gratitude to them for taking the bold step, saying that they had come at the right time.
Akawor, who told them that the PDP was a household name in the state, said the party was in the DNA of every Rivers person.
He disclosed that the present administration under Chief Nyesom Wike, has achieved so much for Rivers people in terms of development, even when no one gave him any chance in the state.
Akawor said the emergence of Siminialayi Fubara as the party’s Governorship candidate was the best thing that happened to Rivers people as the PDP candidate does not have boys or belong to any group in the state.
He narrated the circumstances that led to the choice of Siminialayi Fubara as the Governorship Candidate of the PDP, noting that his choice was for purposes of fairness to the three senatorial zones of the state, especially the riverine part which has not produced the governor since the advent of the present democratic dispensation in 1999.
“In the Rivers West, Dr. Peter Odili has taken it; and so, Rivers West should be eliminated for fairness. For the Rivers East, Sir Celestine Omehia, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Nyesom Wike have emerged from that district; so, Rivers East was also ruled out.
“The focus now was on Rivers South East Senatorial District which comprises of Ogoni (Khana, Gokana, Tai and Eleme), Oyigbo, Opobo/Nkoro, and Andoni. Since all the people that have emerged from Rivers West and East were from the upland part, and remember the APC has taken their governorship candidate from the riverine, we decided that our candidate must also come from the riverine part of Rivers South East Senatorial District”.
He disclosed that the issue of governorship came up on the eve of Governor Nyesom Wike’s birthday, when the elders of the state came to pay him a surprise birthday visit, explaining that the issue came up after the elders called on the governor to vie for the position of president of the country.
“The Rivers Elders’ Forum met in the house of Chief Ferdinand Alabraba, and agreed to go and wish our governor happy birthday by 12midnight. We also agreed that night that the governor has done all he needed to do in the state, and that we think he is a product we can sell to the nation. So, we drafted a letter to wish him happy birthday, and included two clauses there, urging him to run for the presidency.
“When we got to his (governor) house, it was already past 12midnight. We woke him up and handed the letter over to him. He read it and saw the clause where we said he should run for president. He said ‘you people say I should run for the presidency, let us settle home first. You people should decide who should be the governor’.”
He disclosed that out of those who wanted to be governor, seven of them were at the meeting, and they were told to go and choose one person from among themselves who will run for the position of governor, but they couldn’t do so.
“So, what we did was that we called one of our lawyers, former NBA Chairman, Chief OCJ Okocha, to draft a form of an agreement that if at the end of the day, you are not the person selected, you will be willing to work with whoever will be selected, and everybody signed. As we were getting to the primary, the governor invited the elders’ forum, and said: now we have reached the peak of the problem, what do we do?
“So, we now asked who were the candidates that collected the forms from the riverine of South East. They were Amaopusenibo Siminialayi Fubara and former Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru, while the upland people were Senator Olaka Nwogu, Senator Lee Maeba, Dr Gabriel Pidomson, and Commissioner for Finance, Hon Isaac Kamalu. These were upland. So, automatically, they were eliminated. And of course, Sim Fubara, and Tele Ikuru, who is the cousin to Prince Uche Secondus. Ikuru was also eliminated, and it remained only two of them: Kamalu and Fubara. The elders then asked the two of them to go inside and decide who should go, and Sim Fubara became the choice”.
Speaking separately, Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke and Chief David Briggs, said they had come to introduce their brothers and colleagues who have indicated interest to leave the APC, and rejoin the PDP.
Nwuke said as information managers, the decampees would join forces with those of them who were already in the party to provide robust platform for the PDP to disseminate campaign information, and demanded that they be provided with timely information from the party leadership.
On his part, Briggs said he was bringing to the PDP, great politicians who had made the APC in the area stronger, promising that they would deploy their experience as political juggernauts towards strengthening the PDP.
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.