(OPINION) Rivers, epicenter of electoral war and the inefficacy of Wike’s fanciful adventure to foist a protege
By Eze Chukwuemeka Eze
“…It is a memory most inglorious and a mockery of nationhood to learn that a man who is alleged to have, in connivance with others misappropriated over N400 billion public fund is now wrapped in a cocoon of Perpetual Injunction issued by the highest court of the land to evade justice and is further rewarded with a Governorship ticket under the Buhari administration, a regime that prides in fighting corruption…”
“The escapades of the shady character, Mr. Siminialayi Fubara, does not end with the financial sleazes that brought him to the spotlight of public odium…”
Elections in Nigeria are usually loaded with a lavish display of artful stratagem, social artifice and deceitful cunning tactfully contrived by opposing interests to outwit opponents. Politicians deploy every means within human reach to suppress, intimidate and cage opponents to broaden their path to a smooth ride to power. This bad politics is prevalent in Rivers State at the moment.
The fact that all is not well with the system is far from being a misty and inchoate suspicion, it is a startling reality that has kept men in perpetual perplexity. Instead of crafting workable blueprints that would help to address some of the heaping socio-economic and political woes that has perpetually trailed us, politicians cook-up cocktails to impugn and distort the credibility of political adversaries in a bid to sway the minds of voters with whom the legitimate power of choice resides. In fact, a talent for tongue-in-cheek persiflage and rude banters almost always qualifies one for a free ticket to the general elections.
In a true democratic setting, power belongs to the people. This notion may however be untrue to our polity where election thieves have oftentimes defiled the inclination as vague. They instigate electoral violence and criminally manipulate the ballots to force their ways through to power. Thereafter they navigate the courts to tilt the pendulum in their favor with the crucibles of technicalities – legal mechanics and acrobatics. By that painful reality, the social contract between government and the people is vitiated and in fact, nullified, thus, giving strong impetus to government officials who got into power by hook or crook to find it right to indulge in fanfare of squander mania, leaving the people they claim to represent in a squalor without a hint of remorse.
From his place of rest, Thomas Hobbes, the propounder of the Social Contract Theory, may be expressing some painful grimace as a remonstration with the ferocious distortions and aggressively extraneous interpretations now accorded his beloved hypothesis which enjoys acceptance as a global phenomenon in saner climes. Contrast the system here and a few other contemporaneous climes and the result will fix your doubts.
Equality before the law is a classical component of the Rule of Law but this fine principle finds no meaning in the Nigerian polity where law promulgators are proud breakers of the law who walk away with their transgressions at the glare of the compromised law enforcers. Here, the law is made for the weak and downtrodden and is a respecter of persons especially those that possess economic power or are closer to the source of law and power. A plethora of instances exists to buttress this point.
Around May, 2022, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared the Rivers State Accountant-General, Siminialayi Fubara, and 58 others wanted for N435 billion fraud.
The Commission said Fubara, now Rivers PDP Governorship Candidate for the 2023 elections, and four other Rivers State government officials, among others, are wanted for suspected N117 billion fraud, alleged criminal conspiracy, money laundering, misappropriation of public funds, and abuse of office and called on anyone with useful information as to the whereabouts of the Accountant-General to contact any of the Agency’s offices or the nearest police station or other security agencies.
For a long time, the hunt for this much sought-after customers of the anti-graft agency continued with no result on sight. The next thing the public would hear about the wanted Rivers Accountant-General was that he has been declared winner of the Governorship primaries of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State. It is widely believed that the ticket was given to him as a recompense for his very dirty roles in helping Gov. Nyesom Wike in his aggressive and ruthless looting of the common patrimony.
While Rivers people were expecting to see Mr. Fubara turn-up for interrogation at the EFFC office, the perplexing news of his emergence as governorship candidate of the PDP in Rivers State spread like wildfire. And a palpable gloom of apprehension captured the entire civil society in the city. For any sane mind, this would be the least expected.
However, sometime around mid or late 2022, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) got a tip-off from a highly reliable source that the prime suspect in the N435 billion heist, Mr. Fubara, would be landing at the Port Harcourt International Airport at a given time. Officials of the anti-graft agency were deployed to the airport to bring home their bride. Things however turned sour for the EFCC officials who had gone for this hunting expedition. They got the beating of their life from those who accompanied the wanted man in his journey. In fact, it was a clear case of the hunter being hunted. This can only happen in Nigeria where the law is stifled and kept at bay by those who wield economic and political powers.
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The Rivers State Government has since, relied on a Perpetual Injunction obtained from the apex Court during the administration of Dr. Peter Odili, which restrained the EFCC or any agency of the federal government from investigating the accounts and financial dealings of the state government and its officials as a shield.
It is a memory most inglorious and a mockery of nationhood to learn that a man who is alleged to have, in connivance with others misappropriated over N400 billion public fund is now wrapped in a cocoon of Perpetual Injunction issued by the highest court of the land to evade justice and is further rewarded with a Governorship ticket under the Buhari administration, a regime that prides in fighting corruption.
The EFCC however deserves a little commendation for the efforts they have so far made to vacate the horrendous injunction that is kneeling on the neck of Rivers State and her people.
The escapades of the shady character, Mr. Siminialayi Fubara, does not end with the financial sleazes that brought him to the spotlight of public odium. On October 26, 2022, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), extended to him an invitation to appear before it to purge himself of allegations bothering on breach of code of conduct for public officers, money laundering and corruption. A similar invitation from the commission which filtered in the media space was forwarded to him earlier and his reluctance to honor the same necessitated the need for the one issued later in October 26 which he again, turned down. To this day, nothing has been heard again of this case of gross infraction against the Code of Conduct for public officers.
The Chairman of the Bureau had earlier denied allegations of financial inducements from the Rivers State Governor to sweep the case against his protege under the rug. But the silence which the CCB has maintained over the matter raises valid suspicions. Now, is the law not a respecter of persons?
‘What money cannot do, more money can do’, a Nigerian politician once said.
It must be noted that corruption is on the loose and is perpetrated on a large scale and with impunity under the current administration in Rivers State where the Governor and his compadres hide under the masthead of a pending perpetual Injunction against external investigations to loot the commonwealth and subject the people to the pernicious effects of perpetual poverty. The result is the horrible records of poor performance of Rivers in the economic performance index of states in Nigeria.
If not that poverty has been weaponized; if not that equality before the law has been turned a fraudulent fabrication, and if not that the pendulum of justice has been manipulated to criminally tilt against the people, from whence would a sodden character like Mr. Siminialayi Fubara get the effrontery to walk the streets of Rivers State and ask to be voted as Governor. In countries where things work, his likes are subjected to solitary confinement for the rest of his days on planet earth for dealing wickedly with the people. But his corrupt engagements have earned him a guber ticket. This painful reality is a slap on our status as a nation and equally embarrassing to the collective sensibility of Rivers people.
The said PDP Governorship Candidate has zero experience in governance and administration. His dull speeches are always laden with meaningless connotations, uninformed, twisted and oblique allusions. One hardly grabs any meaning from his lousy remarks.
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Those packaging him have been managing to drag him to campaigns across the local government areas where he battles a great deal with what to tell the audience. At a point the ‘packaged puppet’ managed to mention ‘consolidation’ as a key-point of his campaign, but observers are finding it difficult to grapple with the ominously ambiguous catchphrase.
Nigerians are very much aware of the fact that one bequest Gov. Nyesom Wike will be leaving behind after May 29 is the legacy of unsolicited largesse and reckless philanthropy to other states of the federation. In other words, this crude legacy of reckless spendthrift is what Mr. Siminialayi Fubara intends to consolidate if, though unlikely, he wins.
Lets take a short tour down memory lane:- In January 2018, Gov. Wike donated the whooping sum of N200 Million to Benue State after constructing a road in the far middle-belt state.
In January 2021, Sokoto got a share of N500 million for the reconstruction of a market razed down by fire and to help traders recoup their losses. Same period, a market in Port Harcourt was gutted by fire but the traders were left to their fate and the government never issued a statement to show concern over the incident. Recall that before this time, billions of Rivers money went down the drain in Wike’s bid to front Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal as PDP Presidential Candidate with whom he had agreed to work as running mate in the 2019 elections.
In June 2022, the Bayelsa State Campus of the Nigerian Law School got N5 billion Naira for the building of new hostel blocks and a lecture theatre. It is good to know that the Nigerian Law School is owned, operated and managed by the Federal Government through the Council of Legal Education (CLE).
In May, 2021, Gov. Wike visited and gave N600 Million to Akwa Ibom State.
February 2022, Bayelsa State Government got a whooping N500 Million from Gov. Wike for free.
March 2022, Benue State Government got another tranche of N400 Million.
In April 2022, Kaduna joined the league with a gift of N200 Million from the wildly extravagant Governor of Rivers State.
An undisclosed sum running into billions of Naira was expended to form and fund a parallel faction in the Edo State Chapter of the PDP headed by the party’s National Vice Chairman (South-South), Mr. Dan Orbih.
That faction gulped more millions of Rivers money to sustain Wike’s gorilla warfare against Gov. Godwin Obaseki and the mainstream PDP when they produced parallel candidates for National and State Assembly elections. Just a week or two ago, the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the Dan Orbih/Wike faction when it ordered that candidates from the mainstream PDP should be recognized to represent the party at the elections. Again, Rivers billions lost.
Since the defection of the Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), little did the public know that Gov. Wike had been funding the Cross River State chapter of the PDP with Rivers money, until recently when the party’s leadership and candidates visited him in Port Harcourt. During that visit, the C/R State PDP said they were in Port Harcourt to thank Gov. Wike for funding them since Gov. Ayade left the party. As a way of appreciating them for coming, Gov. Wike again, gifted over 30 campaign buses to them.
Late last year, in line with his custom of profligate spending, Gov. Wike gave N200 million to the Governor of Abia State Okezie Ikpeazu in commemoration of his birth and just recently, he has released another N200 million to traders of the popular aria-ria market in Aba, Abia State.
Before the year 2022 ended, Gov. Wike gifted over 30 campaign buses to Gov. Ortom and the Benue State Chapter of the PDP.
To further his licentious and corrupt spending spree, Gov. Wike went to Lagos on the invitation of Gov. Sanwo-olu and dropped N300 million unsolicited and even went ahead to say that the wives of the officials of the Lagos State Government deserved more from Rivers State.
The G5 integrity group which has fast faded and fizzled out has gulped even more money from the state’s fund. The group was enlarged to accommodate more people and men from different parts of the country trooped into Port Harcourt to get a share of the ownerless money. But today, Gov. Wike can no longer call a meeting of the G5 Governors or the integrity group.
By his emphasis on consolidation, the public should know that the PDP governorship candidate in Rivers State, Mr. Siminialayi Fubara intends to continue with the ugly trend of prodigal distribution of the wealth of Rivers State to other states, especially those that are yet to get their own share of the money.
From available records, Benue, Sokoto, Bayelsa, Cross-River, Akwa-Ibom, Kaduna, Lagos, Abia, and Edo states have gotten at least a touch of Wike’s reckless and anti-people largesse. Mr. Fubara by his catchment phrase is promising to consolidate that achievement by ensuring that the remaining 17 states and the FCT yet to get their share of Rivers money will be attended to adequately.
They will consolidate the record of Gov. Wike who spends double the cost of a project (from his standard of costing) during commissioning just to let the world Know that a kilometer of road has been constructed somewhere.
The problem of Rivers State is not overhead bridges that cannot solve any traffic problem, yet the state has gotten more than enough of it under Gov. Wike and this is owing to the fact that awarding contracts for overhead bridges create the easiest avenue for the Governor to loot.
And now Siminialayi Fubara is promising to build more overhead bridges. An extensive rumination on that promise will reveal a covert and real intention to loot even more than Wike has stolen.
With outright rejection starring them in the face, they initiated an advance vote buying scheme through the appointment of 200,000 Special Assistants on Poling Units. Today, more than 60% of those appointees are publicly campaigning for different candidates of their choice because they cannot afford another 8 years of deceitful cunning and merciless looting.
How would it feel to inform the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, that the Mother and Child Hospital he was invited to commission in June 7, 2021, under the heaviest of media coverages nearly two years ago in Port Harcourt has ever since remained under lock and key and is gradually turning into habitation for reptiles.
The popular Mile One Market commissioned around 2019, about three years ago has not served any purpose of trade and commerce for which it was built. In other words it has remained out of bounds to the poor traders who were ruthlessly displaced to get the structure-now-turned-statue erected. Even the much talked-about Dr. Peter Odili Cancer and Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Treatment Centre has not been able to diagnose and treat an ailment as common and ordinary as malaria since it was inaugurated. The facility has remained shut.
The Wike’s regime is notorious for ill-conceived and useless projects that only present him the opportunity to siphon money.
The last promotion for Civil Servants in the state was done under the former administration of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi. For nearly 8 years now, since Wike became Governor, the issue of promotion has been consigned to history. Civil servants retire in droves on a yearly basis yet for 8 years and still counting, no employment of civil servants in the state. And the worst of all, retirees are left to go home empty after giving their productive age to meritorious service to the state. Poverty and hunger thrive amongst the people like trees planted by the river side.
Opposition political parties and their candidates have been marked for attack and the record is becoming more bizarre with the police doing very little or nothing to curb the trend. Wike and his faction of the PDP could not stop the Rivers APC with Executive Orders 21 and 22 and as a result, they resorted to violence.
The governorship candidates of the Accord Party, Chief Dumo Lulu-Brigs and that of the Social Democratic Party Sen. Magnus Abe had at several times escaped assassination attempts while on political engagements.
On February 10, 2023, Dr. Abiye Sekibo, a former Transport Minister and Director-General of the Atiku/Okowa Campaign escaped death when he went to inspect the proposed venue for the presidential campaign rally of PDP in Port Harcourt. The Governor confirmed the attack himself and it was perpetrated to make good his promise that Atiku Abubakar will not campaign in Rivers State.
The Port Harcourt residence of Sen. Lee Maeba, an ardent supporter of Atiku Abubakar was invaded by thugs who vented their frustration on vehicles parked in the premises and injured one, after they could not find their victim.
Supporters of Atiku Abubakar at the local government and ward levels have continued to count their losses on daily bases to the attacks frequently meted out on them and which in most instances, result in Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH).
The APC campaign ground in Port Harcourt City came under attack with explosive devices thrown at party faithful which left many with various degrees of injury. The party’s campaign ground in Opobo-Nkoro and Omuma were all totally destroyed for no reasonable cause.
In all of this, the Police have remained dumb. Instead of arresting the perpetrators of the crimes, they go after the helpless victims. Over 30 supporters of Atiku Abubakar were arrested last week, charged to Court and remanded in prison. These actions are grossly inconsistent with the provision of the Nigerian Constitution which allows for freedom of association.
There’s no better time than now for President Mohammadu Buhari to heed the honest call for an emergency rule in Rivers State which is gradually slipping into a state of anarchy and a theatre of war.
The Rivers APC and other responsible Political parties must be commended for their peaceful dispositions in the face of provocative violent actions from thugs sponsored by the PDP and Wike to stifle their responsible engagements with the people who have resolved to show the Gov. and his compadres the way out through their votes.
INEC must stay true to its words that violence will no longer have a place in our elections and the Governor of Rivers State and his team must come to terms with this reality.
This time, Rivers people will vote for Pst. Tonye Cole who will introduce a new order to expunge the record of pains and embarrassments the state and her people has passed through under the crude administration of the outgoing Governor, Nyesom Wike.
…Chief Eze is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt. Email: ezemediaconcept2020@gmail.com
