The crisis in the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a turn for the worse Monday when the state executive of the party announced the suspension of 27 members of the House of Assembly, including the Speaker, Hon. Otelemaba Dan-Amachree.
The party also gave the state governor, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi, a 48-hour ultimatum to explain the circumstances that led to the grounding of a state-owned aircraft in which he was travelling by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) last Saturday or be disciplined.
The grounding of the plane elicited more reactions yesterday as the presidency, which has been accused of masterminding the NCAA’s decision because of the alleged rift between President Goodluck Jonathan and Amaechi, made a spirited attempt to absolve itself of blame.
However, Amaechi got support in his travails from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who criticised the grounding of the aircraft and the alleged manipulation of the judiciary to wrest the PDP structure from Amaechi in the state.
Justifying the suspension of the lawmakers, the state PDP leadership, which is pitted in a battle for the control of the party structure with Amaechi and his supporters, accused the lawmakers of failing to heed the 48-hour ultimatum it issued them to rescind a decision suspending the chairman, vice-chairman and 17 councillors of Obio/Akpor Local Government Council of the state.
Addressing a press conference yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state Chairman of the PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, said the party was piqued by the failure of the state House of Assembly to obey its directives on the suspension of executives of the Obio/Akpor council.
The state chapter of the party has been mired in a crisis since an Abuja High Court ousted the Godspower Ake-led executive of the PDP in the state that is loyal to Amaechi and declared Obuah the validly elected chairman of the party in Rivers State.
The Obuah-led executive is loyal to the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, a former aide of Amaechi, who is locked in a battle with the governor for the control of the party structure in the state.
He said: “You will recall that on Monday, April 22, 2013, the party issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Rivers State House of Assembly to rescind the order on the dissolution of Obio/Akpor council which was flagrantly disobeyed.
“The party hereby suspends all the 27 members of the House of Assembly that carried out such action while their matter is referred to the disciplinary committee for further action.”
Obuah also explained that Amaechi had not told the truth about the grounded aircraft, adding that records available to the party showed that the aircraft belonged to an American bank.
“From the records made available to us and the statement credited to the acting Director General of NCAA, Joyce Nkemakolam, the aircraft Bombardier B.D 700, Global Express aircraft with registration number 5N5N65 RS, purportedly bought by the Rivers State Government, was false as its registration showed that it is owned by the Bank of Utah Trustee of Salt Lake City, United States of America.
“The party therefore views with grave concern the unfolding facts surrounding the ownership of the purported aircraft and will not fold its hands and allow monumental fraud to be perpetrated in Rivers State.
“It is unacceptable and embarrassing to our great party that public funds are hopelessly mismanaged,” he said.
He added that the state chapter of the PDP would not “condone or align with anybody or group of persons who fraudulently and corruptly enrich themselves or diverted and misappropriated public funds for personal use under any guise.
“The government of Rivers State led by Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi owes a public explanation to the entire people of Rivers State and the PDP in particular, as to the true owners of the Bombardier BD 700.
“They should also explain the identity and the role played by the Bank of Utah of USA in the purchase of the aircraft and the identity of the owners of the said company.”
He warned that if Amaechi failed to meet the demands within 48 hours, the party would take disciplinary action against him.
Defending the presidency yesterday over Amaechi’s travails, Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, said neither Jonathan nor the presidency had any untoward interest in the current challenges facing the governor.
Gulak, who spoke to journalists in Abuja on the state of the nation, also said the president had not said anywhere that he would probe former President Olusegun Obasanjo or any of his ministers.
The presidential aide wondered why people kept linking Jonathan to Amaechi’s travails, adding that contrary to insinuations about the president having any interest in the leadership of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), chaired by the governor, he does not care about who becomes the forum’s chairman.
He said: “Mr. President is ready to work with any chairman of the NGF. After all, the presidency is a constitutional organ while the NGF is not a constitutional organ. If you are talking of the National Economic Council, where all the governors are members, you can say yes this body can relate with the president because it is a constitutional organ.
“As far as Mr. President is concerned, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum is not a constitutional organ. The body cannot pursue certain things as the president is at liberty to listen to their advice.
“So why should Mr. President care about them? He does not care about who becomes the chairman of NGF.”
On the grounding of Amaechi’s aircraft, Gulak said the matter had nothing to do with any persecution but was about obedience to laid down rules.
“If you are a governor and you are flying a private jet, you must do it within the extant laws. There are laws governing the usage of private jets in this country and the world over and because you are a governor does not give you the licence to flout the laws governing your country.
“Nigerians should be told in clear terms that no governor is above the law and the fact that you have immunity does not mean that you can flout the law the way you want,” he said.
Notwithstanding Gulak’s defence, the ACN attributed the travails of Amaechi to politics.
It described the grounding of the Rivers State Government’s private aircraft as a glaring case of political persecution, despite the tepid denial of all concerned.
The party said the inconsistent reasons given for grounding the plane had exposed the shenanigans of those behind the decision.
In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the action also amounted to a gross abuse of national institutions and a pointer to what lay ahead for all perceived enemies of the Jonathan administration.
“First, the plane was ostensibly grounded in Akure because the pilot did not declare the flight’s manifest to the appropriate authorities. Then it was said that the plane’s clearance certificate had expired, hence it was banned from flying in the Nigerian airspace. How low can a government sink just to get at a perceived enemy?
“The questions that arise, therefore, are: Has the clearance certificate for the plane really expired? When did it expire? Was this communicated to the Rivers State Government before the plane was grounded? If so, when, and if not, why not?
“In any case, would the NCAA have acted with so much alacrity if the plane had belonged to a state whose governor has no political differences with President Jonathan?
“While the NCAA must be free to carry out its regulatory duties without hindrance, it must be careful not to be seen to be acting on the orders of politicians,” ACN said.
Also weighing in on the governor’s ordeal, Soyinka raised the alarm that the judiciary was being debased and manipulated by some leaders.
Soyinka was responding to questions from journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday on the rift between Amaechi and the presidency, as well as the recent judgment by the Abuja High Court that ousted the state executive of the PDP loyal to Amaechi.
He said he was concerned that despite efforts at reforms, the judiciary still had its dark sides.
“I think that the judiciary right now, while it is trying to reform itself, recognises the fact that there are still some dark areas and I think it is the effect of the dark areas that seem to be creating a crisis in Rivers State right now….
“I am just alarmed. I am alarmed that a situation exists at all where it strikes me; it appears to me that the judiciary is being manipulated. That is the impression which I had and that is an alarm which should be sounded in every corner of the nation,” Soyinka said.
He said some incidents in the country, like the grounding of the Rivers State government aircraft, smacked of pettiness, stressing, “I hate pettiness at any level of governance in the country.”