AMAECHI REPLIES UDUAGHAN, OKONJO-IWEALA OVER ECONOMY

Rivers State Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has disagreed with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Delta State Governor Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan over the state of the economy and Southsouth’s support for President Goodluck Jonathan.
In Amaechi’s view, the economy is battling to survive, contrary to the rosy picture being painted by the minister.
According to him, the Federal Government is yet to pay fully the Rivers State allocation for July.
Amaechi spoke at a programme organised by the Rotary International, District 9140 for young future leaders at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, yesterday.

RIVERS STATE GOVERNMENT RELEASE: AMAECHI’S LIFE UNDER THREAT AS COMMISSIONER OF POLICE SUDDENLY REDEPLOYS ESCORT COMMANDER TO THE GOVERNOR

By Ibim Seminetari
Today, Thursday September 5, 2013, the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu redeployed the Escort Commander, in charge of the Convoy of the Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. The redeployment according to CP Mbu was because the Escort Commander had refused his directive to “furnish (the CP) with prior information of the movement of the Governor.” The Escort Commander is not in charge of the Governor’s Protocol and cannot have prior knowledge of the Governor’s movement, especially in the prevailing circumstances regarding security in the State.
After redeploying the Escort Commander, CP Mbu also requested the Camp Commandant of Government House, Port Harcourt, to give him prior briefing of the Governor’s daily movement. A request which in practice would be difficult to comply with unless the Camp Commandant gets prior knowledge of the Governor’s movement.

NEW MILITANT GROUP THREATENS AMAECHI

A new militant group, under the aegis of Coalition of Militant Action for the Niger Delta, COMA, today threatened to deal with Governor Chibuike Amaechi.
In an online press statement signed by Alaye Teme, and made available to P.M.NEWSin Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, southern Nigeria, the group said that in the past few months, weeks and days, the Central Command of the Coalition for Militant Action in the Niger Delta (COMA) has noted with great interest, the plot by a renegade group of Northern leaders to undermine the Presidency of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
The group said: “it has also noted with great dismay the activities of the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi who in a rabid attempt to discredit and disrespect the Presidency has suddenly become a pawn in the chessboard of a power hungry and selfish Northern political bloc who believe that they were born to rule.”

POLICE DECLARES AMAECHI’S ADC A DESERTER

Port Harcourt – Police in Rivers on Monday in Port Harcourt declared the ADC to Gov. Chibuike Amaechi, ASP Seimeikumo Debewari, a deserter from the force.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Administration, Mr Augustine Sanomi, said in a statement that Debewari had ceased to be the ADC to the governor with immediate effect.
Sanomi alleged that the officer ignored all lawful directives to see the state commissioner of police and the Inspector-General of Police since July 10 over his role in the fracas at the state House of Assembly.

RIVERS CRISIS: AMAECHI HITS BACK AT OKUPE

Governor Rotimi Amaechi has  hit back at the Presidential Assistant on Public Affairs Dr. Doyin Okupe over his comments against him that he is a tyrant.

He said Okupe’s comments were infantile vituperation  that will not help President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015.

He said the  earlier the President purged the Presidency of characters like Okupe, the better for us all.

Amaechi, who fired back at Okupe in a statement through his Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor, said it was regretful that “small minds like
Okupe in a democracy, still see holding a different opinion from the Presidency on any issue as anti-Jonathan and fighting Mr. President.”

MY PROBLEM WITH DAME JONATHAN, BY AMAECHI

RIVERS State Governor Chibuike Amaechi has said that he desires peace with President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, irrespective of their perceived misunderstanding.
Amaechi said his misunderstanding with the First Lady arose out of his desire to provide a conducive learning environment for the children of Okrika, her hometown.
The governor stated this when clergymen of the Niger Delta Bishops’ Forum visited him in Government House, Port Harcourt Friday as part of their efforts to mediate the political crisis in the state.
Amaechi, who is also Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), however, said he has enormous respect for both President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife.

NOBODY CAN FORCE ME OUT OF PDP – AMAECHI

Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has said nobody can stampede him out of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The governor also said he did not have to tell President Goodluck Jonathan or anybody about his ambition before contesting any public office.
Amaechi, who said he had yet to declare his ambition to contest the Vice-Presidency in PDP, spoke in an interview monitored on the BBC programme, Hard Talks, on Thursday.
He said, “You see what you must know is that I believe in the rule of law. Let’s even assume, for the purpose of argument, that an ambition exists, nobody has the right to bring down a state just because an ambition exists.

RIVERS CRISIS: WHY I STORMED ASSEMBLY, BY AMAECHI

RIVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi spoke yesterday – for the first time – on his presence at the House of Assembly when five lawmakers attempted to impeach the Speaker. There are 32 lawmakers in the House.
Amaechi said he went to the Assembly to restore order, which had broken down when the five lawmakers, who are believed to be associates of Minister of State for Education Nyesom Wike, attempted to impeach Speaker Otelemaba Dan Amachree.
The governor spoke at the Chatham House in Central London where he delivered a lecture on “Resource and governance in Nigeria”. But the audience asked him about the political crisis in the state, particularly why he went to the Assembly on July 9.
He said: “When I heard the members of the Assembly had been attacked by thugs, I went there with my security attache to rescue them because the police assigned to the Assembly had been compromised.

JONATHAN, AMAECHI OPT FOR PEACE

THERE are indications that the presidency and Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi may have opted for a peaceful resolution of the crisis between them to avoid overheating the polity and endangering the democratic process.
Sources close to the presidency and Amaechi told Saturday Tribune that all sides to the conflict have realized the danger in allowing the conflict to degenerate further, hence the sudden embrace of peace.
It was gathered that the PDP hierarchy and the presidency were worried that the crisis was being kept on the front burner by the media on a daily basis, a suggestion that some forces were trying to benefit unduly from the crisis.
According to sources, “it appeared to the government of the day that some forces are trying to use the Rivers crisis as an avenue to unduly get to the root of the nation’s democracy,” a source said.

AMAECHI PETITIONS JONATHAN, MARK, TAMBUWAL, PSC …GIVES REASONS WHY CP MUST LEAVE RIVERS

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State has sent a petition to President Goodluck Jonathan, asking for the transfer of the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu.

Amaechi, in the petition, which was also addressed to the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Sir Mike Okiro, gave various reasons why the commissioner of police must be transferred out of the state immediately.

Copies of the petition were sent to President Jonathan, Senate President, David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal.

Amaechi said in the petition, a copy of which was sighted by our correspondent in Abuja on Saturday, that the police officer had compromised his position and professional ethics in the discharge of his duties in the state.

AMAECHI THREATENS TO DUMP PDP

•Says: If they suffocate us in PDP and we need to move, we move.
Hours after embracing President Goodluck Jonathan at Port Harcourt Airport, Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi yesterday evening raised the stakes in the crisis rocking the state branch of the party by threatening to dump the ruling People’s Democratic Party(PDP).
He vowed to leave for any other party if PDP insists on the reversal of the suspension of Obio/Akpor local council executives as pre-condition for him to remain in the party.
Amaechi said this while reacting to questions by the Bishop of the Anglican Communion, Niger Delta Diocese, Rev. Ignatius C. Kattey, at the 60th birthday thanksgiving service of the former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), O.C.J. Okocha (SAN) in Port Harcourt.

SHOOT ME IF YOU CAN, AMAECHI DARES CP

RIVERS State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has dared the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, to shoot him whenever he embarks on a demonstration against him (CP) and the Federal Government.

Mbu had placed a ban on any form of demonstration, procession or rally by any person or group of persons in the state and warned anybody not to dare him on the directive.

But speaking on Tuesday when leaders and people of Urashi Kingdom paid him a solidarity visit at the Government House in Port Harcourt, Amaechi vowed that he would be at the forefront of the protest that would come up soon.

The governor said he had told traditional leaders in the state to get ready for the demonstration against Mbu over the police commissioner’s position on rallies and demonstrations.

AHEAD NGF MEETING: AMAECHI CONFERS WITH OBASANJO

Governor of Rivers State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Amaechi, is leaving nothing to chance as he consolidates his victory in the forum’s election held on 24 May.
Today, Amaechi who has fixed a meeting of the forum for tomorrow at the Rivers State Governors’ Lodge, Abuja, is set to meet former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta in company of the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Though Amaechi is yet to arrive for the meeting with Obasanjo as at the time of filing this report, P.M.NEWS gathered that the meeting earlier fixed for yesterday could not hold because the governor failed to show up.

RIVERS POLICE BOSS, A MOLE – AMAECHI

Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State yesterday accused the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, of leaking security secrets after every Security Council meeting of the state to authorities in Abuja.

Amaechi said the commissioner was planted in the state to leak top secrets to them, blaming the development for the cessation of further security meetings which has led to the rise in kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal activities in the state.

The governor spoke when Professor Tam David-West, a two-time minister, paid him a courtesy call at Government House, Port Harcourt.

NGF CRISIS: AMAECHI EXPLODES

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, who was on May 24 this year re-elected as Chairman of the Nigeria  Governors’  Forum (NGF), said yesterday that there was no factional chairman nor a parallel secretariat of the Forum of 36 governors.

He  made the declaration yesterday during his visit to the secretariat of the forum under his leadership located at Asokoro, Abuja.

Amaechi, who came in company with his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr. Kayode Fayemi,  was reacting to the inauguration of another NGF secretariat last week by the faction of the forum led by Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang and his deputy, the Ondo State governor, Dr  Olusegun Mimiko.

AMAECHI THREATENS TO EXPOSE THOSE FIGHTING HIM

After keeping mum since the executives of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State, were swept away by a disputed court order, Governor Chibuike Amaechi, has threatened to expose all his traducers.

He said by the time he revealed their true identity, people will realise why they should be prepared to provide their own security.

Governor Amaechi spoke today when he received the Archbishop of the Dean of Anglican Communion in Nigeria and Archbishop Niger Delta Province, Most Reverend Ignatius Kattey at the Government House, Port Harcourt.

Amaechi said he is not afraid of opening up and revealing the true background of those attempting to snatch the soul of Rivers politics.

AMAECHI WILL BE TREATED LIKE A TRAITOR –DOKUBO-ASARI

Leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujaheed Dokubo-Asari, has described Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State as a traitor.

According to him, since the governor joined forces with the North to work against President Goodluck Jonathan, he has betrayed the people of the Niger Delta.

Dokubo-Asari, who spoke with journalists on Friday in Abuja, on Jonathan-Amaechi rift among other issues, said the 2015 general elections would “define and decide” the existence of Nigeria.

But the Rivers State Commissioner for Information, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, told The PUNCH that Dokubo-Asari was entitled to his opinion.

PAY $320,000, REGAIN YOUR JET •NAMA TELLS AMAECHI •WE’RE YET TO BE NOTIFIED - RIVERS OFFICIAL

THE controversies surrounding the grounding of a Bombardier jet belonging to the Rivers State government have taken a fresh turn, as sources within the National Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) revealed that the embattled governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi, would have to pay a total sum of $320,000, about N51.2 million, to the agency for the 16 days its pilot contravened the aviation laws.

According to findings by Sunday Tribune, for violating the airspace regulation for 16 days, the Rivers State government would part with a $20,000 per day fine.

But a source within the state government disclosed that NAMA’s position about payment of fine was entirely new to the government, saying: “We are not aware of any fine, neither has the state government been officially briefed. Whenever NAMA briefs us officially on the issue, we will know what to do.”

OUR PRIVATE JET COST N7BN, NOT N9BN –AMAECHI

Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, on Saturday said contrary to reports, the state government’s private jet costs $45m (N7.1bn) and not $57 (N9bn).

The governor said this through his Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, in an interview with our correspondent in Port Harcourt.

Amaechi described the allegations that he inflated the cost of the jet by $10m as unfounded and a figment of the imagination of those spreading such false information.

According to him, the allegations were targeted at distracting the state government from its responsibility of developing the state.

“The state government has never announced that the aircraft was purchased for $57m. That statement did not come from us. The aircraft was bought for US$45m. We see all these as a distraction,” Amaechi said.

…THEY WANT TO DECLARE EMERGENCY RULE IN RIVERS –SPEAKER

Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Otelemaba Dan Amachree, has alleged plot to declare a state of emergency in the state. In a statement he released last night, in Port Harcourt, he said that police invasion of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area secretariat yesterday was a prelude to the plan to impose emergency rule in the state.

He also alleged that Abuja-based politicians in the state are planning to stage a massive protest that could lead to a breakdown of law and order and therefore prompt the Federal Government to declare emergency rule and remove Governor Chibuike Amaechi. The Speaker asked the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to withdraw the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu and investigate his alleged “abuse of power.”