Wike Versus Amaechi

Tonye James

Nyesom Wike and his predecessor at each other’s throats. He is why

They were like siamese twins. From 1999, at the dawn of democracy in Rivers state, they shared everything in common, at least politically, before things fell apart.

Chibuike Amaechi had been in charge of the affairs of Rivers State in the last eight years as Governor, while Nyesom Wike became his successor on May 29, 2015. Both of them are from the same Ikwerre ethnic nationality of the state. Amaechi was a two-time Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly and within this period he became the Chairman of Speakers’ Conference, which gave him considerable leverage and recognition at the national level. Amaechi latched on to this and played his cards right to gain even more political prominence.

On the other hand, Wike also ran two tenures as the Executive Chairman of Obio-Akpor local government council. And like Amaechi, he went a step further, becoming the National Chairman of Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria, ALGON. In that position, his tentacles began to spread into the national political space.

Both Amaechi and Wike were watered and nourished under the tutelage of Peter Odili, the former Rivers State Governor. Amaechi was Odili’s godson, and before Odili became Governor in 1999, Amaechi was his Personal Assistant, who was always with his boss on his political voyages.

In 2007, Amaechi won the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Primaries to fly the governorship flag in Rivers State during the 2007 governorship election. But at the occasion of the presentation of the PDP flag to the party’s governorship candidates from the South-South at the liberation stadium, he was denied his flag. Olusegun Obasanjo, who was then the President, explained that the party flag for Amaechi had ‘K-Leg.’

Consequently, Amaechi fled to Ghana on self exile from where he started the battle to reclaim his mandate. And Wike, along with other loyalists of Amaechi, started the legal battle to strengthen the illegally imposed “K-leg” or irregularity that denied him his mandate, because while he was away in Ghana PDP substituted his name with that of his cousin, Celestine Omehia, who was Special Adviser, Inter-religious affairs to Odili.

After some twists and turns in the legal battle which moved from the Federal High Courts to the Appeal Court and finally ending at the Supreme Court, Amaechi got a landmark supreme court judgement that directed that Omehia should vacate the seat after being Governor for Amaechi to be sworn in immediately. The apex court affirmed that legally, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi was the Governor of Rivers state, not his cousin Omehia, and it was a monumental victory for the Amaechi political family. Wike was one of the arrowheads in the success story and had even claimed in the past to be the “architect and engine” of Amaechi reclaiming that lost mandate.

Wike was appointed the Chief of Staff to Governor Amaechi from the inception of his government and he wielded much power and influence. Some Aides of the former Governor even claimed that Wike was given the latitude to nominate some of the Commissioners into Amaechi’s cabinet.

However, the relationship between Amaechi and Wike started to degenerate, overtly, towards the end of the first tenure of Amaechi’s administration. Wike had indicated interest in contesting for the seat of Senator representing Rivers East Senatorial district at a time Senator Thompson Sekibo, from Ogu/Bolo Local Government was also angling to return for his second tenure. Wike was said to have been prevailed upon by Amaechi to shelve his ambition for the sake of equity because Senator John Azuta Mbata, also an upland Ikwerre man, secured a second tenure at the Senate. Wike dropped his senatorial ambition and temporarily beat a retreat. He was forced to go back to the drawing board and prepare for future political exploits.

Despite that development, for Amaechi’s second term tenure, Wike made himself available for the task of manning the gubernatorial campaign project as the Director General. He was the natural choice for this duty courtesy of his reputation of being a politician that was close to the grassroots. Recently, Wike told Journalists that he knows Rivers State like the back of his palm. “ There is no polling unit or ward in Rivers State that I don’t know,” he claims. He also said he knows key politicians in every nook and crannies in the state that are always on ground to mobilise people to vote at every election for preferred candidates.

Wike’s talents as a politician, which cannot be wished away by any camp in the Rivers political terrain, was put into full use at the period of the political gulf between him and his former boss, Amaechi. Backed by the Presidency after being made a Minister of State for Education, through Amaechi’s nomination, Wike literarily gave the immediate past governor the biggest nightmares of his entire career as the Governor of the oil-rich state.

Amaechi got one of his greatest scare as Governor on July 9,2013, when five legislatures loyal to Wike and led by Evans Bipi, representing Ogu/Bolo Constituency attempted to impeach him. As the eventually botched impeachment was going on, Mbu Joseph Mbu, the Commissioner of Police feigned ignorance of the proceedings in the Assembly even when he was accused of watching the fracas through his office window at the Police Command headquarters that is directly opposite the Assembly Complex.

Amaechi stormed the chambers of the assembly with his security details and some Policemen attached to the Government House to physically save his mandate. In the ensuing violence, Michael Okechukwu Chinda, one of Wike’s loyalists, was viciously attacked with a mace and Wike arranged for his transfer to a London hospital for urgent medical treatment. The botched impeachment incident drew opprobrium locally and internationally as a despicable and undemocratic method of effecting change in a Parliamentary setting.

Wike had promised his former boss sleepless nights for disrespecting the office of the immediate past President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his wife, Patience Jonathan publicly. Earlier, the former Minister of State for Education had successfully kicked out the Godspower Ake led PDP faction which was loyal to Amaechi through an Abuja High Court order and installed the Felix Obuah led executive.

Following this, the former Governor dissolved the Obio-Akpor local Government Council led by Hon. Timothy Nsirim (Wike’s cousin), and moved against the Council members based on the allegation that there was a petition of financial impropriety against Nsirim and the 19 councillors. They were all sacked with Amaechi’s approval in one fell swoop. The general sacking at Obia-Akpor Council where Wike was a two-time Chairman was termed by many, considering the timing, to be Amaechi’s way of getting even with Wike. The political strategists of Amaechi suspected that Wike was being emboldened to oppose Amaechi on all fronts because he could still access the Obio-Akpor Council’s resources. The National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, directed Amaechi to rescind the dissolution of the council or be disciplined by the party, but the former Governor did not budge. He insisted that he did not directly suspend the Council but that the House of Assembly which was permitted by law to investigate the Council for financial impropriety was responsible for the action.

On 27 May, 2013, Amaechi’s 48th birthday, the National Working Committee of PDP handed the governor an unpalatable birthday gift by suspending him from the party, making him the first serving Governor to suffer that fate in the 16 years existence of party. This was the punishment for his refusal to call back the Obia-Akpor Councillors despite the party’s directives.

As the battle for the soul of Rivers PDP which then appeared to be in Wike’s palms raged, with the legislature in his control, Amaechi ditched the PDP and joined the APC train. To the leadership of APC, Amaechi was a big catch, while the state PDP celebrated his exit from the party. But through it all, being able to keep most of his Commissioners was a plus for Amaechi. Only two commissioners left his cabinet. Dr.Tammy Danagogo of Urban Development left the cabinet to be nominated later into the cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan as the Minister of Sports, while Marshall Uwon, Commissioner for Housing, also dumped Amaechi’s cabinet. Uwom is now a lawmaker in the Rivers House of Assembly.

The battle shifted to the state judiciary when former Chief Judge of the state, Justice Andrew Iche Ndu retired from service, with the ensuing contention being about who takes over between Justice Peter Agumagu, President of the Customary Court, and Justice Daisy Okocha, the most senior High Court judge in the state. The National Judicial Commission, NJC, recommended Justice Okocha, but Amaechi preferred Justice Agumagu, who was sworn in as the Acting Chief Judge. The NJC, state PDP and Wike rejected Agumagu, insisting that the 1999 constitution as amended recognised the most senior Judge as the rightful person to take over the mantle of office of the state Chief Judge. But the Amaechi administration however thought differently. It argued that Agumagu was senior to Okocha as a Judge in the state judiciary before he was seconded to the state Customary Court. As the argument raged, Agumagu was suspended by the NJC and Okocha was appointed the Administrative Chief Judge so that pending cases in the courts could be assigned to Judges.

In the midst of the confusion, there was a coordinated bombing of high courts in Ahoada, Port Harcourt and Degema, necessitating the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN to embark on a strike, citing safety concerns for their members. The Courts were eventually locked.

The State Judiciary Service Commission also passed a circular directing all staff not to have anything to do with Justice Okocha as an Administrative Judge for the state. The State High Court law was hurriedly amended by the Rivers House of Assembly directing that the Chief Registrar of the state be vested with the responsibility of assigning cases to Judges in the absence of an Acting Chief Judge for the state. The standoff lasted for about a year until Wike swore in Justice Okocha as the Acting Chief Judge of the state who in turn opened the courts.

Eventually, the big battle for the control of the State was fought during the last Governorship and Presidential elections. As expected, Wike won the PDP state primaries, despite the rancour and controversies it generated and became the Governorship candidate. Amaechi had tried to market the zoning principle anchored on the Upland and Riverine divide. He argued that Wike, an Ikwerre like him should not be allowed to occupy the seat of the Governor after him. In his stead, Dakuku Peterside, his former Commissioner for Works from Opobo Nkoro local Government grabbed the APC governorship ticket to slug it out with Wike at the polls.

Eventually, PDP won all the state Senatorial seats, the House of Representative seats and delivered 1,487,075 votes to President Jonathan. Similarly, Wike polled 1,029,102, which is 87.7 percent of Rivers votes, while Peterside only managed to muster 124,869 votes, which translates to 10.65 percent.

Although Wike has since started work as the Rivers State Governor, the Amaechi camp is yet to relent in its pursuit of victory. The final battle ground would be at the election petition tribunal where Wike’s victory will eventually be underlined or upturned. And for now, Peterside awaits the outcome with bated breath. However, the APC prefers the sitting of the tribunal in Abuja, citing security concerns , while the PDP insists that it should be at the state capital.

The acrimony between the two political gladiators is noticeable in various fronts. The five legislators on Wike’s side in the struggle with Amaechi’s government, (who later became six) were allegedly denied their entitlements throughout the two years of the standoff. The House, through the former Leader, Chidi Lloyd, cited the rules and privileges of the House that clearly state what is due to a lawmaker that attended the sitting of the House. Meanwhile, all the six lawmakers who were against Amaechi and have won their tickets back to the Eight Assembly.

The actions of the former governor at the twilight of his administration suggested that he was poised for a long-drawn-out battle. Amaechi directed the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, headed by Professor Augustin Ahiazu to conduct local Government elections in the 22 out of the 23 local government council areas, excluding Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni council whose tenure had not elapsed.

Wike and the PDP protested that Local Government elections scheduled to hold on May 23, just six days away to the date of Amaechi’s exit was illegal and a nullity, but Amaechi and RSIEC defended the action stating that it fell within the confines of the law. The PDP on its part went to court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from releasing its Voters register. The ding-dong legal battle continued but the election held and APC expectedly won the Chairmanship seats in the 22 local government councils, while PDP boycotted the exercise.