Governor Rotimi Amaechi
•Rivers State assembly warns of plot to impeach governor
•Court stops suspension of lawmakers
•State govt opens up on aircraft, admits it is US registered aircraft
Ernest Chinwo
In a direct salvo that effectively drew the battle line between himself and President Goodluck Jonathan, the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, has declared that his administration is rebuilding the state’s infrastructure to complement the development efforts of its founding fathers and not the transformation agenda of the federal government.
The depth of the feud between the presidency and Amaechi also assumed a new dimension Tuesday when the leadership and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly pointedly accused the executive of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Chief Felix Obuah, of attempting to cause chaos in the state that could lead to the governor’s impeachment.
Their allegation came on the heels of the injunction granted by a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Monday restraining the PDP from suspending 27 members of the state House of Assembly.
The Rivers State Government also Tuesday opened up on the status of its aircraft, admitting that it is a foreign-registered aircraft and therefore enjoys the status of a US citizen.
Amaechi, while speaking on Monday when participants of the Senior Executive Course 35 from the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos paid him a visit in Port Harcourt as part of their tour and analysis of the nation’s transformation agenda, said his administration’s efforts to rebuild the infrastructure in his state was not in lock step with the transformation agenda of the federal government.
Amaechi said the transformation agenda could be implemented by the next administration after his tenure, as he was focused on rebuilding.
According to Amaechi, “We are not doing transformation; we are only going back to where our parents left us first before we can commence transformation.
“There is nothing we are doing now that King Diette-Spiff did not do, but they have all deteriorated. So we are going back to where King Diette-Spiff left the state, and hope that, whoever takes over from us can then transform.
“So here, we are not transforming, we only get back to where Spiff left us."
Earlier, the leader of the delegation and representative of the Director-General of NIPSS, Prof. Ibrahim Jumare, said the purpose of the visit was to undertake a study tour on strengthening institutional framework and the transformational agenda in the country.
He said participants would visit other states in the southern part of the country including Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ekiti and Oyo, and would also hold interactive sessions with various tiers of government on issues of the transformation agenda of the federal government.
In a statement issued by the speaker of the state assembly, Hon. Otelemaba Amachree, for and on behalf of its members, he said the state legislature wished to bring to the notice of the people of the state and Nigerians “some of the dangerous moves by the Felix Obuah-led PDP to cause general chaos and confusion in Rivers State.”
He said the leadership and members of the state assembly had been reliably informed that a fake mace had been smuggled into the state to enable “five members of the house hold an emergency session, even after the house adjourned sine die on Tuesday, April 23, 2013.
“The Abuja plan on the ground is to falsely impeach the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the executive governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and create confusion through varied responses, which they hope will make the state ungovernable and provide them with some kind of warped basis to introduce emergency rule in Rivers State.”
He alleged that there were strong indications that some persons have been detailed exclusively to create a systemic collapse of security in the state, putting lives and property in danger.
“This is undemocratic, unacceptable and a complete violation of the mandate that the good people of Rivers State have vested on us.
“We call on the good people of Rivers State to remain calm, watchful and law abiding as the scenario unfolds,” he said.
However, a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has restrained the state chapter of the PDP from suspending 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
The court order was in reaction to the announcement of the suspension of the lawmakers from the PDP by the chairman of the state chapter of the party, Obuah, on Monday for failing to rescind their decision to suspend the chairman, vice-chairman and 17 councillors of Obio/Akpor Local Government Council of the state.
The lawmakers, in a suit filed at the High Court against the PDP, Obuah and Walter Ibibia, sought an injunction restraining the party from suspending them or declaring their seats vacant.
In his ruling on the injunction, Justice Sika Aprioku on Monday also restrained the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from declaring the seats of the lawmakers vacant.
“An order of interim injunction be and is hereby granted to restrain the defendants, either by themselves, servants, agents, privies or howsoever from declaring the claimants’ seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly vacant and applying to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct elections to replace the claimants as members of Rivers State House of Assembly, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” Aprioku ruled.
While adjourning the matter till May 6 for hearing on the motion on notice, Aprioku also ruled that the defendants be served the originating processes by substituted means.
Also, the Rivers State Government has restated that no agency of the federal government has communicated to it the story doing the rounds about the grounding of its aircraft.
The aircraft, a Bombardier BD 700 Global Express jet, and its passengers, were first delayed at Akure last Friday before officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said the aircraft had no valid permit to fly in the Nigerian airspace.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, in a press release issued in Port Harcourt yesterday, said the state was dismayed by statements attributed to officials of different agencies in the aviation sector about the aircraft owned by the state.
“It is pertinent to note that all of the information and queries about this aircraft have only been through the mass media. The Rivers State Government has not received any communication from the Ministry of Aviation or any of its agencies querying the status of its aircraft even up till this moment,” Semenitari said.
She said the state was surprised to read about matters of administrative procedure and allegations of illegality and abuse of process in the media.
She said the situation had warranted the need to make clarifications about the aircraft.
Semenitari said for purposes of clarification and in keeping with its policy of rendering “transparent and accountable stewardship” to Rivers people, Aircraft N 566 RS arrived Nigeria and has been operating since October 2012.
She said the aircraft was bought by the state government and registered as a US aircraft, in the first instance, to preserve value and provide ease of operation and sourcing of available pilots.
She disclosed that to qualify for “N registration”, an operator must be a US citizen, hence the state government entered into a trust with Bank of Utah Inc, a bank that specialises in aircraft trust.
According to her, “The relationship between the state government and Bank of Utah is that of a trustor and trustee. All N registered aircraft enjoy the privileges of a US citizen.
“The trust agreement for the purpose of N registration is common in the aviation industry. It is important to state that there are other aircraft owners in Nigeria with N registered aircraft.
“This practice is because of the ease of movement that N registered aircraft are privileged to enjoy. We do not therefore understand why the Rivers State Government has been singled out.”
The commissioner disclosed that the aircraft was being operated through a local operator, Caverton Helicopters, pending approval of importation licence by the Minister of Aviation.
“A request for this licence was filed by the operator on behalf of the Rivers State Government and this was expressly stated in the request filed on August 27, 2012 and received in the minister’s office on September 4, 2012,” she said, adding that as a responsible sub-national and guardian of the resources of its people, Rivers State “will at all times and in all circumstances act within the confines of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
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