Yes, Patience Jonathan is my
Jesus Christ – Bipi
SEPTEMBER 14, 2013 BY
CHUKWUDI AKASIKE
3 Comments
Mr. Evans Bipi
Mr. Evans Bipi is the member
representing Ogu Bolo State
Constituency in the Rivers State
House of Assembly. In this
interview with CHUKWUDI
AKASIKE, he speaks on his role
in the crisis rocking the Rivers
State House of Assembly.
Some people have described
Rivers State House of Assembly
as animal kingdom, how do you
feel about this, especially as a
principal actor in the whole
crisis rocking the Assembly?
I feel bad and I really feel sad,
but this is a nation where the
Press has freedom of speech. It
is a democratic setting. Based on
the past incident, one can call it
animal kingdom, but it is not. We
are there to correct all the
anomalies. Whatever that is not
good is not good. We are there
to point out to the governor that
this is not good, this is good, do
this, don’t do this so that we can
form a good government.
Why did you instigate a fight in
the House of Assembly?
How? Where are the video clips
that showed that I was the
person that instigated the fight?
Where are the clips? They have
nothing to hold; they are
drowning. They are looking for a
way to drag everybody into the
matter. Right now, they have
nothing to hold. We are in a
democracy where we are allowed
to impeach anybody when there
is an impeachable offence. At my
level, how would I go and start a
fight. It is only somebody who is
about to fall that will want to
react.
Have you ever been trained in
the art of boxing, karate, or
wrestling?
No! We are all human beings and
we can be doing one form of
exercise or the other. I am not
into karate or taekwondo. It is
not possible.
Why do you call the President’s
wife mummy? Are you in any
way related to her?
Have you forgotten that she is
from Okrika? So, whoever
attains the position of the First
Lady, what would you call the
person? You call her mummy.
She is the mother of the nation
and she is the mouthpiece of
Okrika people. She is the mother
of Okrika people. So, every
Okrika person calls her mummy.
But you are from Ogu Bolo. Is
Ogu Bolo near Okrika, why she
hails from?
Ogu Bolo is Okrika. They are all
Okrika people. It is like Ikwerre
and Obio/Akpor; they are all
Ikwerre. It is only the local
government areas that split
them. So, as an Okrika woman,
who has risen up to that
position, everybody calls her
mummy.
Is that why you also call her
your Jesus Christ on earth?
What is her role in your life?
People are misinterpreting this
Jesus Christ on earth. Let me say
this. Man is God to man; it is in
the Bible. You must not see God;
you will see God through
somebody. God said, see me
through Jesus Christ. That is why
we are seeing God through Jesus
Christ. This woman (Patience
Jonathan) is everything in my life.
She made me what I am today.
Are you talking about politics?
Politically and otherwise; I can
say it anywhere. I can say she is
my Jesus Christ because she has
made me who I am today. That
is the truth and I can defend that
anywhere. Babangida’s wife was
from Delta State. Her people
called her mummy. Yar’Adua’s
wife is from Katsina, all the
people from Katsina call her
mummy. Even Governor Rotimi
Amaechi’s wife, the people call
her mummy. When a woman
attains such level, everybody
calls her mummy. It is a form of
respect to her. But to me, my
mummy (Patience Jonathan) is
special because she brought me
up to this level.
What made you think that five
members can impeach the
Speaker out of 32 members of
the House of Assembly?
Point of correction, we were not
five. I have told you this before.
Five members cannot impeach
the Speaker and five cannot
impeach the governor. Why is
Amaechi afraid and going to
court to stop us from
impeaching him? If we were five,
Amaechi wouldn’t have gone to
court. He (Amaechi) knew that
we were not five because he
could no longer trust the people
he perceived to be his
supporters. Again, there was no
time we thought of impeaching
Amaechi. If he thought we
wanted to impeach him, which
means he had come to know that
there was an impeachment or he
has come to understand that
there is a new Speaker and the
recognition stands. But there has
never been any plan to impeach
him, but rather I am ready to
work with him. It is not true. You
can’t even dare going to discuss
with President Jonathan that you
want to impeach Amaechi
because he (Jonathan) is a man
that does not want to hear such
thing. He will not even allow you
to end your discussion. He is a
peaceful man.
You were seen in a video clip
almost snatching an AK 45 rifle
from a policeman, what did you
want to do with the rifle?
What happened was that after
Chidi Lloyd used the mace to hit
my colleague, he ran away, then
the governor came, supervised
the beating of my colleague. So, I
was running after him (Rotimi
Amaechi). That policeman now
used the gun to hit me. Take a
look at my hand. So I dragged
the rifle in anger. I don’t know
how to shoot. I was only trying
to ask him why he used the gun
to hit me. I was only trying to let
him know that what he did was
bad. Why did he stop me from
going after the governor? I was
going to meet the governor to
tell him that coming to the
House to supervise the beating
of my colleague was not good.
How do you feel when some
people call you impersonator?
I feel very sad that they call me
impersonator. But those who say
I am impersonating, they are not
also sitting, I am not also sitting.
If I am impersonating, then you
should go and sit, let the whole
Rivers people see if they will not
stone and drive them out. The
beauty of it is that they are not
sitting, I am not also sitting. I
am waiting for the National
Assembly to decide since they
said they had taken over. They
have three months and this will
soon elapse. Because we are not
sitting, Amaechi has gone to
extend the tenure of Obio/Akpor
Caretaker Committee, which is
our own duty, my own duty as
the Speaker, Rivers State House
of Assembly. I have said it is
illegal. He (Amaechi) does not
know what he is doing. If you say
the National Assembly has taken
over, you wait and let the
National Assembly extend the
tenure of the caretaker
committee. He should have
waited for the National Assembly
to come and not extending the
tenure of the caretaker
committee himself.
Some people see you as a thug
and cultist. How do you feel
about this?
Well, that is always the case,
when you react to something,
they call you names, when you
fold your hands, they call you
woman. That is what some
people call Jonathan then. When
you react, they will say that you
are a military man. Just because
I reacted, they say I am a thug, I
am a cultist. Well. God knows. All
those around me know that I am
not a thug, I am not a cultist. I
came from a Christian family and
I am an Anglican. There is no way
I will join cult, there is no way to
be a thug. One day, the whole
nation will know that I am not a
thug. What they are portraying
me to be because they have
money is not what I am.
But we saw some thugs inside
the chambers of the House the
day the incident happened.
They said that some were your
supporters that you invited
into the chambers of the
House. How true is that?
That is a fallacy. They are not
saying the truth to the world; it
is another way of tarnishing my
image or painting me black. If I
have thugs, Chidi Lloyd would
not have walked away. I did not
invite any thug and I did not
invite any cultists.
How do you feel as a lawmaker
fighting on the floor of the
House?
If you look at the clips, I was
not the one; it was Chidi Lloyd.
After the impeachment, he
reacted and tried to defend his
position in the House because we
impeached him alongside with
Speaker. The impeachment
angered him and made him
(Lloyd) to hit Chinda with the
mace. I was not there and I
believe that after Chinda, the
next person that would have
been hit was me. I was only
being alert. It (free-for-all) is
part of democracy. It happened
in the National Assembly, it
happened in Kogi State, it
happened in Lagos State; Rivers
State is not an exception.
Is that why you used
taxpayers’ money to fly
Michael Chinda abroad over a
fight that had nothing to do
with the welfare of the people
of the state?
That is why we condemned the
act of Chidi Lloyd as barbaric.
For him to have used a mace on
not just a fellow lawmaker, but
his own brother; they are from
the same community, it is
barbaric and we condemn it.
Considering the incident in the
House, would you warn your
children against fighting?
Of course, I will definitely warn
my children against fighting. But
my children will not run away
from a woman. There is no way a
man will run away because of a
woman. I will always tell them to
defend themselves at any given
time. But I will tell them not to
fight. They should run away from
trouble, run away from fighting,
run away from anything crisis,
demonstration, but they should
not run away because of a
woman.
How did you explain your role
in the brawl that took place in
the House of Assembly to your
family?
Well, I told my wife and children
that if not for God, that mace
Chidi Lloyd used would have hit
me. I was the target, but it was
God that diverted his (Lloyd)
attention to his own brother,
Michael Chinda. So, my wife and
children knelt down and thanked
God for not making me to be a
victim. We prayed and my wife
also thanked God for it. So, I
guard against fighting. The truth
is that fighting is not good, but
always fight against injustice.
But some people would still
insist that the fight was for
personal gain and not for the
people of Rivers.
The fight was for the people of
Rivers. If I represent my
constituency, M.O. Chinda
represents a constituency,
former Speaker represents a
constituency. If what should be
for my constituency is not given;
the whole projects are not given,
are my people not part of Rivers
people? They are part of Rivers
people and they are being denied
their constituency project. They
are being denied of their sons’
allowances and this is what I
would have used to rehabilitate
them. The allowances are for
human empowerment. So, we
were fighting for Rivers people.
You have continued to call
Amachree a former speaker.
Could you throw more light on
why you describe him in that
manner?
I earlier told you that Amachree
was duly and respectfully
impeached. I have the clerk of
the House; I have the sergeant-
at-arm. The sergeant-at-arm he
(Amachree) used to present the
supplementary budget is a fake
one. We are even taking him to
court for impersonation. I have
been made the Speaker of Rivers
State House of Assembly,
Amachree is not contesting it. He
has not taken me to court. If he
says I am impersonating, he
should take me to court and let’s
dig it out there. I will bring all
the available papers around me.
He is saying I am impersonating
and I am an impostor, he should
take me to court and let me
prove that I am the Speaker. I
have all the documents with me.
I want to use this medium to
warn Amachree not to be telling
people that he is the Speaker. He
should know that he has been
impeached and he is no longer
the Speaker, Rivers State House
of Assembly. Anywhere he goes
and answers Speaker, I will get
him arrested and take him to
court.
What exactly are the issues
you have against Amaechi?
I, for, one, do not have issues
against Amaechi. I am only
correcting Amaechi in certain
areas he was going astray such
as his interference in our
legislative functions, using
money in executing projects that
were not budgeted for, taking
loans without stating what the
money was meant for, non-
payment of allowances of
honourable members; I am a
victim. For some time now, my
allowances have been seized. The
allowances of those he
(Amaechi) perceived to be his
enemies have not been paid for
the past six months. Another
point is the interference of his
wife in our constituency projects.
She (Amaechi’s wife) took my
constituency project. My
constituency project is ESI, which
is Amaechi’s wife’s pet project.
Another issue is the refusal of
the governor to accept the PDP
executive officers in the state. He
came to power through the court
and the court also gave order for
Felix Obuah to take over, but
Amaechi did not accept it. The
illegal removal of Obio/Akpor
Local Government Council
chairman is still an issue. There
was no due process; there was
no petition on the floor of the
House. He conspired with the
‘former’ Speaker to remove the
chairman, vice and 17 councillors
of Obio/Akpor Local Government
Area and swore in a caretaker
committee the same day. It is
not done. Again, he (Amaechi)
refused to explain the position of
the aircraft owned by Rivers.
There are many issues and I am
only correcting him. So, I
personally don’t have any issue
with him.
Is it true that Governor
Amaechi is arrogant?
He is arrogant and power drunk.
Some are saying that President
Goodluck Jonathan and his
wife are behind the crisis in
Rivers State. How true is that?
That is a pure fallacy. If
Jonathan’s hand is in Rivers
crisis, the matter would have
been resolved long ago. No
matter how humble he is, if he
has a hand in Rivers problem, by
now, it would have been a thing
of the past. But the President
does not have a hand in this
crisis. You can just imagine how
a governor will come out to
challenge a whole President. If
the President has a hand in this
matter, then it would have been
a thing of the past. The
President has refused to use half
of the powers he has. Don’t
forget that Rivers State is part of
Niger Delta and that President
Jonathan is not from Rivers State
does not mean that he is not
from the zone; he is from the
zone, but he has taken it to be a
family issue and he has said that
Amaechi should go and settle
with his people. Up till this
moment, Jonathan is still looking
for peace. So, he (President
Jonathan) does not have a hand
in the issue. Patience Jonathan
also does not have a hand in the
issue; count them out of it.
Are you saying it is possible to
wish away the leadership
influence of Governor Amaechi
in key areas of Rivers State?
He (Amaechi) has no influence in
the areas. From the Obio/Akpor
issue, you would know that he
has no influence. He dissolved
Obio/Akpor Local Government
Council, but up till now, the
council remains sealed and the
caretaker committee has not
been able to function effectively.
If he (Amaechi) has influence,
Obio/Akpor could have been a
practical example where he could
show his influence. Even in Ogu
Bolo, he has no influence.
The National Assembly has
taken over the duties of the
Rivers State legislature. What
is your position on this?
The National Assembly resolved
to take over the functions of the
State House of Assembly. Fine, I
am not in dispute with that
because the constitution gave
them the power to take over
such areas where there are
crises. But we are talking about
the hasty nature in which they
took over. The former ‘Speaker’
was impeached on the 9th, on
the 10th of the same month,
House of Reps took over. It is
the Senate that played a mature
role; a fatherly role by setting up
a committee and the committee
came, went from the airport to
Government House, wined and
dined with Amaechi, forgetting
the lawmaker, Honourable
Michael Chinda, who was in the
hospital. They (members of the
committee) came back to
interview both parties involved in
the crisis. They did a good work
and it is a good thing. I pray they
resolve the issue.
Who is the Speaker of the
Rivers State House of
Assembly?
Of course, you know that nobody
is contesting it. Since it is not
being contested in the court, I
remain the Speaker of the Rivers
State House of Assembly. The
former Speaker was duly and
respectably impeached. When he
was impeached, the power of
authority was before us, which is
the mace. If there was no
impeachment, why did the
governor come all the way from
Government House to the Rivers
State House of Assembly? Is he a
member of the Rivers State
House of Assembly? Who did he
come to the House to rescue? We
were carrying out an
impeachment process and when
the impeachment had been done,
he (governor) came in to
supervise the beating of Michael
Chinda; one of my colleagues.
So, I remain the authentic
Speaker of Rivers State House of
Assembly. I have not been taken
to court. So, I remain the
Speaker.
Apart from the five lawmakers
in the opposition, who else
voted to impeach Amachree?
That day, if you look at the
register, we were about 23 on
the floor of the House, though
the governor and his people
came and took away the register.
Now, out of 23, about 21 voted
for me. He (Amachree) was
there, Chidi Lloyd was also there.
Do you have the video clip of
members voting on the floor of
the House?
Yes, I have the video clip of
members voting. It is with me. I
will get it for you anytime. Those
he (Amachree) perceived to be
his people are not his people.
You know what happened during
the Governors’ Forum election;
Governor Akpabio thought he
had 19 persons to his side, but
at the election proper, Amaechi
got 19 and the reverse was the
case. He (Amachree) perceived
those people to be his people,
but unknown to him, they were
also parleying with me. They had
an understanding with me and
they all voted for me. He was
embarrassed and flabbergasted
and with that fear, he rushed out
to call Amaechi to come. When
Amaechi came, I was giving my
acceptance speech. Everybody
can attest to it, the whole
Nigeria can attest to it. I was
giving my acceptance speech
when Amaechi came in and he
asked me; my friend, what are
you doing there? And I told him;
is this your office? Amachree
has been impeached and I am
ready to work with you. Some
are saying I want to impeach
him; I am not going to impeach
him, I am ready to work with
Governor Amaechi. He should
accept me as his Speaker and I
will work with him effectively.

You need medication fast!

Honestly i pity my state,i wish this tenure should just run out fast. Lots of processes are deviating from the rail.