₦airaland Forum

A team of Northern governors on a solidarity visit to Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, have asked the Inspector General of Police to immediately redeploy the Commissioner of Police in the state, Joseph Mbu, over what they described as his unprofessionalism and political partisanship in the multiple crises rocking the state.

In a statement distributed to journalists shortly before they drove out of the Government House in the company of their host, the governors — Babangida Aliyu (Niger) Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Sule Lamido (Jigawa) Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) — said having interacted with stakeholders in the state, it was clear that Commissioner Mbu was being used to persecute the Rivers State Governor.

“We wish to call on the Inspector General of Police to hearken to the voices of reason and immediately redeploy and discipline Commissioner Joseph Mbu,” the statement said. “His action smacks of unprofessionalism and political partisanship which is unbecoming of his office.”

Talking really tough, the governors threatened that they would reconsider their earlier commitment to contribute part of their federal allocations towards the funding of the police if the Rivers police boss was not removed and sanctioned.

“With the way the police is being used and abused, and with officers like Mbu in the bus, we do not see the need for state governments to fund an antagonistic police and may be forced to reconsider our position on the financial contribution of states towards the funding of the Nigerian police,” the governors said.

They also resuscitated the debate over the desirability of state police for the country, saying it had become a necessity since the federal government was now in the habit of using the federal police to persecute political enemies.

“Arising from the action of the police, and Joseph Mbu in Rivers State, the call for state police as a constitutional provision has become a necessity,” the statement added. “We note that the events in Rivers state have again brought to the fore the issue of true federalism and the need for institutions derived from the Constitutions to be allowed to function without undue interference. As federating units, we must be allowed the space to guarantee our people’s sustainable development as provided by the Constitution.”

The governors commended Mr. Amaechi for his “maturity and calm even in the face of apparent persecution”.

They also praised the House of Representatives for its proactive leadership in resolving the Rivers crisis and the Senate for its thoroughness in addressing the matter.

They called on political actors in Rivers State to “defuse tension and stop all actions capable of overheating the polity and derailing our nascent democracy”.

“We must all work together to build one united and indivisible nation nation and strengthen our democracy,” they said.

The four governors were, on arrival at the Port Harcourt International Airport earlier today, harassed by protesters, believed to have acted at the behest of people opposed to Governor Amaechi.

The protesters, under the aegis of Grassroots Development Initiative, had besieged the airport shortly before the arrival of the governors.

Chanting anti-Amaechi slogans, the protesters berated the governors for intervening in Rivers State’s internal crisis.

As the cars conveying the visiting governors drove out of the airport and headed towards the Rivers State Government House, the protesters became violent pelting the motorcade with stones, water bottles, sticks and other items.

However, the governors arrived the Government House safe, without any major incident, and immediately went into a closed-door meeting with Mr. Amaechi.

A leader of the protesting group, Samuel Nwanosike, later said Rivers people were uncomfortable with the visit of the governors.

He said the people of the state were capable of solving their own problem and that the northern governors should leave them alone.

The visiting governors have remained firm supporters of the embattled Rivers governor. They visited in the wake of the recent state-sponsored unrest, to which many commentators have pointed accusing fingers at federal authorities.

Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate and professor of literature, at a press conference in Lagos last week, cautioned Patience Jonathan, wife of President Jonathan, against invasively inserting herself in the politics of the state, and working secretly as matron to forces trying to unseat Mr. Amaechi and make the state ungovernable.

Mrs. Jonathan has denied the claims, drawing wide amusement when she described the Nobel Laureate as an “embarrassment.”

The Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, also reportedly arrived Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

Mr. Wike, an indigene of Rivers State, has been accused of being an arrowhead of the anti-Amaechi group.

The Rivers State Governor has been having a running battle with the presidency over his stance on major public issues. He has since been suspended from the PDP.

The crisis in the state worsened last week when five state lawmakers, loyal to the presidency, attempted to impeach the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly. The speaker and 26 other lawmakers are loyal to Mr. Amaechi, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum. The violent crisis in the assembly was widely publicised on television and social media.

Mr. Amaechi had repeatedly called for the redeployment of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police who is accused of playing partisan role in the crisis.

The House of Representatives has passed a resolution also demanding the immediate removal of the controversial police commissioner.

The Minister of Special Duties have been announcing major Boko Haram decisions lately.

The leadership of the Boko Haram sect have, in private discussions with a presidential committee, denied being responsible for the killing of dozens of secondary school students in Yobe State.

This was disclosed by the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, Tanimu Turaki.

Mr. Turaki, whose committee recently announced a ceasefire with the outlawed group, said this on Wednesday while addressing journalists at the State House, Abuja.

He, however, said security agencies would have to investigate the sect’s claim.

“As far as the commission of crime is concerned, security agencies anywhere will not rely on the confessions or denial of supposed suspect as the basis for their investigation.

“ I’m sure Nigerian security agencies are very competent and they will look at all the facts and circumstances and then they will be able to carry out their investigation without bias, and then arrive at the final decision of who really was behind that unfortunate act (students killing).

“But they (Boko Haram) said (denied the killing) and for us it is left or the security agencies to determine that they were not responsible” he said.

About 28 students and one teacher at the Government Secondary School in Mamudo, Yobe were killed on Saturday when gunmen stormed the school. Most of the victims were burnt alive, witnesses said.
The attack has been condemned by President Goodluck Jonathan, the ruling party, the opposition, and other Nigerians.

Mr. Turaki, who is also the Minister of Special Duties, said his committee was able to achieve a ceasefire with the group because trust was established between the sect and the committee. He, however, said his committee was yet to meet or discuss with the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, but was meeting with his deputy.

Merging association renovates building which will host its national operations.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will on Tuesday inspect the proposed national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 (amended).

A source in the party disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, saying the Commission has written to notify the APC of its intention to carry out the inspection by 10 a.m. as part of the registration conditions.

APC is the proposed merged party of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN; Congress for Progressive Change, CPC; All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP; Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.

The secretariat is located at 6, Bissau Street, Zone 5, Wuse District, Abuja, a few meters away from the national secretariat of ACN. It is a cream coloured two-storey building, once occupied by the Nigeria Telecommunication Limited, NITEL. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the building, currently undergoing renovation, was donated by a wealthy member of the fledging association.

The association applied to INEC for registration on June 7 after which it was asked by the electoral body to constitute its national executive in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution. It complied with the directive immediately with the setting up of an executive committee led by Bisi Akande, the incumbent ACN National Chairman; including Aminu Masari, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives as deputy National Chairman; Tijjani Tumsah, incumbent National Secretary of ANPP as National Secretary; Lai Mohammed of ACN as the National Publicity Secretary, among others.

Mr. Mohammed had told PREMIUM TIMES last week that the Commission would soon visit the secretariat for inspection, adding that the building was already undergoing renovation for the purpose.

Kayode Idowu, spokesman of the INEC Chairman, when contacted on Monday night could not confirm the visit of the Commission’s officials to the secretariat, but said, “It is part of the process for vetting the application of political associations that applied for registration.”

The military’s Joint Task Force, JTF, in Borno State, Sunday, allayed the fears of people in the state over the activities of the youth vigilante groups hunting the Islamic Fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram.

The JTF said the young men are operating under the supervision of the military.

Maiduguri residents had recently began to raise concerns and fears over the activity of the Civilian-JTF especially as regards the possibility of being infiltrated by the Boko Haram or miscreants.

The JTF Spokesman, Sagir Musa, said in a statement that the Task Force supports and “commends the heroic and patriotic efforts of citizens and residents of the state especially the youths who are daily rising against Boko Haram Terrorism in the state”.