SCORES of Ogoni people took to the streets in Port Harcourt on Thursday to protest the endorsement of a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dakuku Peterside, as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

Peterside was on Wednesday chosen as the APC governorship candidate in Rivers State ahead of the member representing Rivers South-East in the National Assembly, Senator Magnus Abe, a native of Ogoniland.

The lawmaker representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives emerged as the party’s consensus governorship candidate during a stakeholders’ meeting.

But the people of Ogoni, who were mainly youths, vowed that they would not accept the verdict of the stakeholders and advised the leader of the party and the state Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to rescind the decision and conduct a governorship primary.

The youths had marched through the popular Azikiwe Road to the main gate of the Government House in Port Harcourt, insisting that the governor betrayed Ogoni by ‘anointing’ Peterside as the governorship candidate of the APC.

The protesters, who had earlier blocked major points of the East-West Road in Eleme Local Government Area, chanted war songs, even as some of them threw stones that damaged some vehicles parked near the Government House.

It took the intervention of policemen, who shot sporadically into the air to disperse the protesters, a development that forced banks on Azikiwe Road to close temporarily.

Customers, who were inside the banks, were not allowed to move out while those intending to come in were asked to go back as a result of the deafening sound of gunshots from security operatives.

The police also fired tear-gas canisters to disperse the surging crowd of protesters, who maintained that they would continue to protest until the governor changed his mind on the choice of governorship candidate.


http://www.punchng.com/news/ogoni-rejects-rivers-apc-consensus-gov-candidate-2/

Very soon, somebody will say they are sponsored to protest by the opposition.

thunder74:
Very soon, somebody will say they are sponsored to protest by the opposition.

Meaning?

Upon all the Abeshooting saga, he was still sideline. Guess there may be better candidate than Peterside in that party. Maybe Amaechi wants someone that's very loyal. God bless Nigeria.

After Magnus Abe gunshot movie yet he was shamefully dropped.
Amaechi has proved to Ogoni's that he never liked them afterall he did not do any meaningful projects for them.

He used them to score political points claiming that Ogoni lacks water because FG refused to approve his loan that's why he left PDP and yet all they have clamored for he denied them.

Amaechi started the tribal war in Rivers State!
Before now, tribe was not an issue o who runs in rivers state.
Amechi out of fear of Wike started by saying an Ikwerre man must not be allowed to rule Rivers after him.
As much as I dont like Wike, it was very crude of Amechi to use the ethnic card just to deal with one man.

I pity Rivers people in the coming elections.

noblezone:
Amaechi started the tribal war in Rivers State!
Before now, tribe was not an issue o who runs in rivers state.
Amechi out of fear of Wike started by saying an Ikwerre man must not be allowed to rule Rivers after him.
As much as I dont like Wike, it was very crude of Amechi to use the ethnic card just to deal with one man.

I pity Rivers people in the coming elections.

Bro, i don't like Amaechi as a person, but he isn't the one that introduced tribal politics in Rivers state.

Tribal politics has been part and parcel of Rivers state from the very beginning of the creation of the old Rivers state. Saro wiwa complained of Ijaw domination agenda of the old Rivers state,and the Ijaws accused Saro of favouring his Ogoni people in the education commission.

Obi wali and other "Igboid" tribes of the old Rivers complained of Ijaw domination of the old Rivers and sought Azikiwe's and Ukiwe's help to rid themselves of the greater Ijaw, they got their wish when Ijaws were forced into Bayelsa state.

The Ijoid tribes accused Peter Odili of running an Igbo agenda,when Odili tried to hand over to Amaechi, they said that both Odili and Amaechi are Igbos hiding under new identities of Ndoni and Ikwerre, and that an Ndoni man handing over to an Ikwerre man is equivalent to an Okrika man handing over to Kalabari man.


Rivers state politics like every other multi ethnic state in Nigeria,has always and would always be tribal.

The people u refer to as ogoni people are not ogoni people. They are miscreants and not ogoni people. because the ogonis have sounded it clear long b4 now that all the political parties in rivers state should field an ogoni man as their flag bearers for 2015 election. But as we have seen in the pdp in d last couple of months how pdp have endorsed nyesom wike, how nyesom wike and his group have beaten up his rivals in d pdp including those from the ogoni, how wike have masterminded d screening out of his rivals including those from ogoni and the most qualified prof. Don baridam. And there was no protest from d ogoni. I smell a rat here.

size38:
The people u refer to as ogoni people are not ogoni people. They are miscreants and not ogoni people. because the ogonis have sounded it clear long b4 now that all the political parties in rivers state should field an ogoni man as their flag bearers for 2015 election. But as we have seen in the pdp in d last couple of months how pdp have endorsed nyesom wike, how nyesom wike and his group have beaten up his rivals in d pdp including those from the ogoni, how wike have masterminded d screening out of his rivals including those from ogoni and the most qualified prof. Don baridam. And there was no protest from d ogoni. I smell a rat here.

help me tell them please. Those guys protesting are wike's agent.

pazienza:


Bro, i don't like Amaechi as a person, but he isn't the one that introduced tribal politics in Rivers state.

Tribal politics has been part and parcel of Rivers state from the very beginning of the creation of the old Rivers state. Saro wiwa complained of Ijaw domination agenda of the old Rivers state,and the Ijaws accused Saro of favouring his Ogoni people in the education commission.

Obi wali and other "Igboid" tribes of the old Rivers complained of Ijaw domination of the old Rivers and sought Azikiwe's and Ukiwe's help to rid themselves of the greater Ijaw, they got their wish when Ijaws were forced into Bayelsa state.

The Ijoid tribes accused Peter Odili of running an Igbo agenda,when Odili tried to hand over to Amaechi, they said that both Odili and Amaechi are Igbos hiding under new identities of Ndoni and Ikwerre, and that an Ndoni man handing over to an Ikwerre man is equivalent to an Okrika man handing over to Kalabari man.


Rivers state politics like every other multi ethnic state in Nigeria,has always and would always be tribal.

help me teach that guy called noblezone what he doesnt knw pls. Thank u!

Hmmm. I thought rivers people or niger deltans dont want an 'Islamic party'. How come their are protests here and their against the so called islamic party consensus candidate. They could have just ignored and vote for PDP na. . PDP officially dead in rivers.

I am a niger deltan and will surely vote for APC.

If APC likes let them field paulside or amaechiside. Come feb. the ruling party will beat APC silly in the guber elections, this ogoni protest is just the tip of the iceberg of APC Rivers state woes. Quote me

K0boko69:
Hmmm. I thought rivers people or niger deltans dont want an 'Islamic party'. How come their are protests here and their against the so called islamic party consensus candidate. They could have just ignored and vote for PDP na. . PDP officially dead in rivers.

I am a niger deltan and will surely vote for APC.

Maybe you need to read what is written on some of their placards.

myhoodlink:
Upon all the Abeshooting saga, he was still sideline. Guess there may be better candidate than Peterside in that party. Maybe Amaechi wants someone that's very loyal. God bless Nigeria.

Amaechi is not willing to tolerate his type of disloyal governor.

size38:
The people u refer to as ogoni people are not ogoni people. They are miscreants and not ogoni people. because the ogonis have sounded it clear long b4 now that all the political parties in rivers state should field an ogoni man as their flag bearers for 2015 election. But as we have seen in the pdp in d last couple of months how pdp have endorsed nyesom wike, how nyesom wike and his group have beaten up his rivals in d pdp including those from the ogoni, how wike have masterminded d screening out of his rivals including those from ogoni and the most qualified prof. Don baridam. And there was no protest from d ogoni. I smell a rat here.

You tried in your analysis. The latest news is that the disqualification on 13 aspirants has been lifted.


https://www.nairaland.com/2018980/rivers-state-pdp-lifts-disqualification

Caseless:
help me teach that guy called noblezone what he doesnt knw pls. Thank u!

Sharaaaaaaaap,
I know you'll cry after reading this.

https://www.nairaland.com/2018980/rivers-state-pdp-lifts-disqualification

chinwike2:
If APC likes let them field paulside or amaechiside. Come feb. the ruling party will beat APC silly in the guber elections, this ogoni protest is just the tip of the iceberg of APC Rivers state woes. Quote me

You're right.

pazienza:


Bro, i don't like Amaechi as a person, but he isn't the one that introduced tribal politics in Rivers state.

Tribal politics has been part and parcel of Rivers state from the very beginning of the creation of the old Rivers state. Saro wiwa complained of Ijaw domination agenda of the old Rivers state,and the Ijaws accused Saro of favouring his Ogoni people in the education commission.

Obi wali and other "Igboid" tribes of the old Rivers complained of Ijaw domination of the old Rivers and sought Azikiwe's and Ukiwe's help to rid themselves of the greater Ijaw, they got their wish when Ijaws were forced into Bayelsa state.

The Ijoid tribes accused Peter Odili of running an Igbo agenda,when Odili tried to hand over to Amaechi, they said that both Odili and Amaechi are Igbos hiding under new identities of Ndoni and Ikwerre, and that an Ndoni man handing over to an Ikwerre man is equivalent to an Okrika man handing over to Kalabari man.


Rivers state politics like every other multi ethnic state in Nigeria,has always and would always be tribal.

Hold on a moment!

As much as the ethnic differences are there, a leader like Amechi should have been neutral. I mean whatever protest that took place over the APC flag bearer was as a result of Amechi throwing up the ethnic card.

I think its way i put it. When I heard Amechi mention he wont hand over to Ikwerre, I knew has brewed trouble among the other nationalities. While I am not saying he should hand over to Ikwerre (whats my own?), I am saying as a leder, he could have kept that in his "chest" and work towards it, rather than fuel the polity with such careless words.