BY AUGUSTINE AVWODE
Not a few people were taken aback when news broke last Thursday that the Rivers State House of Assembly had passed a motion reversing what it literally ‘created and legitimized’ less than eight years ago.
The offensive news, which some analysts called ‘crude politics’, was that the Assembly voted overwhelmingly to ‘derecognise’ or disrobe Celestine Ngozichim Omehia, 63, of his hitherto status as a former governor of the state. He had ruled the oil-rich state as the fourth civilian governor from May 29, 2007 to October 25, 2007 as a member of the then-ruling People’s Democratic Party.
Since the return of civilian rule almost 23 and half years ago, Rivers State has always provided a unique brand of politics known more for its uncommon intrigues and perplexing drama.
For Omehia, a lawyer, community leader, Knight of the Catholic Church and a politician, the journey to becoming a victim of institutional high-handedness began in December 2006 at the Port Harcourt Township Stadium. It was in the age of imposition rather than nomination of candidates. The then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, who combined military audacity with the confidence of native intelligence was unarguably the de facto national leader of his then ruling PDP. His words were laws and everybody deferred to Baba OBJ as he was fondly called.
On that fateful day, Obasanjo introduced an unusual lexicon into Nigeria’s political lingo. The system had determined to anoint another candidate, Celestine Omehia, who did not need to have gone through the usual nomination process, in place of Rotimi Amaechi, then Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, who had emerged from the nomination process as the candidate of the PDP in Rivers State.
Obasanjo on that day described Amaechi’s nomination as having “K-Leg” a sort of biting euphemism for a warped and crooked development. Instead of the PDP fielding Amaechi, it fielded his ‘brother’ from the same community and ethnic stock, Omehia, for the election. Of course, he won in a landslide fashion and was sworn into office.
But Amaechi refused to accept the ‘K-Leg’ theory of his nomination and approached the court for remedies
In the ensuing legal battle, the Supreme Court, Nigeria’s apex court, removed Omehia from office after 150 days in office in October 2007.
The Supreme Court ruled that Amaechi, who won the primaries for the ruling PDP in December but was removed from the ballot, was the lawfully elected governor of Rivers State.
The verdict sounded bizarre but had all the weight of the pronouncement of the Supreme Court of the land. It was promptly obeyed and with that, Omehia was swept out of office with no hope of gaining his new found status as governor of Rivers State until another election circle.
The electoral body had put Omehia’s name on the ballot after the PDP kicked aside Amaechi on the basis of an alleged indictment for corruption issued by the Federal Government, which the Supreme Court said was invalid.
“In the eyes of the law, the appellant (Amaechi) remains the candidate of the PDP and is deemed to have won the election and should be sworn in immediately,” Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu stated while reading the unanimous decision of the seven-man panel of judges.
Following the pronouncement of the Supreme Court, Amaechi proceeded to govern Rivers State without giving Omehia any recognition as a former governor of the state. On his part, Omehia frantically sought to reverse the judgment.
Then a window of opportunity opened in 2010. Ahead of the 2011 election, a member of the PDP simply identified as Cyprian Chukwu, asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to interpret the Supreme Court judgment on Amaechi’s tenure.
The court was to specifically decide whether Amaechi can stand for election in April of 2011, or should wait until the expiration of his tenure in October when he was sworn in.
In his ruling, Justice Abdul Kafarati affirmed that the governorship election in Rivers State must be held during the general election of April 2011.
Omehia, even though did not initiate the case, alleged the PDP man of being a front for Governor Amaechi; and promptly appealed to the Court of Appeal to make him a party to the suit, to enable him appeal the judgment.
Amaechi, through his lawyer, kicked against the appeal arguing that Omehia had nothing whatsoever to do with the case.
“The Supreme Court ruled that Rotimi Amaechi, who won the primaries for the ruling People’s Democratic Party in December but was removed from the ballot, was the lawfully elected governor of Rivers State. The verdict sounded bizarre but had all the weight of the pronouncement of the Supreme Court of the land”
Responding, Omehia argued that since he was a party in the Supreme Court judgment that had given the governorship to Amaechi, he was affected by the new decision and deserved to be heard. He also argued that as a likely governorship candidate in future elections in the state, he had a stake in the matter.
The Appeal Court saw reason in Omehia’s argument and granted him the right to be joined in the case and so be able to appeal the case. Amaechi appealed to the Supreme Court, protesting the right granted to Omehia to be joined in the suit.
The case dragged on for a long time and in its ruling, the Supreme Court upheld Amaechi’s appeal and declared that Omehia had no case on the matter.
Justice Muntaka-Coomassie, who read the ruling, said Omehia should not have joined in the suit since he was not a party to the initial suit that culminated in an appeal.
Omehia, through his lawyers, expressed his dissatisfaction with the ruling. He insisted that under Section 243 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, he was an interested party in the suit because he was “a person, who is affected or likely to be affected by the outcome of any proceedings at the apex court’’. That effectively ended the legal option for Omehia.
Amaechi had played a fast one ahead of the 2011 election. He was expected to have an isolated election because he was sworn-in in October. But he was not prepared for the risk of an isolated election. He opted to run in April of that year during general elections alongside other governors.
Analysts stated that it was a super decision that smacked of political sagacity. The decision was to ensure his election was not held after a president, in this case, Goodluck Jonathan would have emerged in April 2011. There was already a strained relationship between the two men.
For an October election, Jonathan would have had the elbow room to probably influence the outcome of the election significantly, if he chose to. But with an April election and the president also contesting, his options were limited.
The second Supreme Court ruling seven years after in 2014, was sweet music to the ears of the then new mega opposition party, APC, to which Amaechi now belonged. The state chapter said the ruling “should serve as a warning to all those who insist on the way of the moving train known as Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.”
Omehia had to endure the cruel fate that Rivers politics served him till 2015 when a glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon as Nyesom Wike, former Minister of State for Education, emerged as the new governor of the state.
A WINK OF THE SUN
In June 2015, Governor Wike restored in full the benefits and entitlements of Omehia as a former governor of the state in what seemed a little wink from the sun on a cloudy day.
Wike had explained then that though Omehia later lost his seat to Amaechi, he functioned as a governor between May 29, 2007 and October 25 of the same year.
The governor further ordered that the official portrait of Omehia be mounted among former governors of the state at the Government House.
“I, hereby, put back his official portrait among those of former governors. He is now entitled to the benefits of all former governors,” Wike had said.
Wike then emphasized that “the era of bitter politics was over” in the state, wondering why Omehia, who discharged the functions of a governor for about five months, would be denied his benefits as a former governor. An elated Omehia described the day as his happiest day and profusely thanked the governor for restoring his rights as an ex-governor of the state.
OPPOSITION DISAGREED
But an unimpressed opposition, the APC, was quick and categorical in telling Wike that Omehia was never a governor. The Rivers State chapter of the APC faulted the decision of Wike to “restore the rights and entitlements of Celestine Omehia, who presided over the state between May and October 2007.”
The APC alleged that Wike, who served Amaechi as Chief of Staff, was playing to the gallery. The party described the governor’s action as an attempt to overrule the Supreme Court which nullified the election of Omehia
“Omehia was never a governor in the eyes of the law, according to the Supreme Court,” and it wondered “why Wike would prefer to play politics with the issue already decided by the apex court,” Chris Finebone, publicity secretary of the party in Rivers, then noted in a statement.
The APC argued that “The Supreme Court explicitly declared that Omehia held the office of Rivers governor in error, illegally and ordered that Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi be immediately inaugurated as the rightful governor of Rivers State.
“Apart from Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the next immediate beneficiary of that development was Barrister Nyesom Wike, who was shortly appointed Chief of Staff by Chibuike Amaechi. Can Governor Wike, in all honesty, recall drawing the attention of his former boss to the need to override certain aspects of the Supreme Court judgment and defiantly restore Omehia’s rights, however, as he has just done?
Can governor Wike today own up to several of the anti-Omehia actions he took as Amaechi’s Chief of Staff, until he was called to order?
“Rather than feel surprised at the charade that the governor personally carried out on Thursday, the APC feels embarrassed that an individual, who is licensed to practice law within the Nigerian territory, would in the most flagrant manner, disregard the judgment of the Supreme Court of the land, for selfish political expediency.
“More embarrassing is that the recipient (Omehia) is himself a lawyer as well, who had previously sought to get the Supreme Court to reverse itself in related matters without success.
“The APC will like Rivers people and Nigerians to know that the action and utterances of Wike are nothing more than standing in front of the mirror for the world to see and confirm the real Wike, who is ready to abandon civility, reason and decency on the altar of political expediency.
“We expect that if governor Wike was genuinely interested in rehabilitating Omehia, along the line he has taken, the best would have been for him to approach the Supreme Court to reverse its earlier decision on the matter and not resort to self-help. Indeed, there are other legitimate ways to reward a political associate, without breaking the law and defying state institutions.
“The APC rejects the attempt by a sitting governor to undermine the integrity and sanctity of the judiciary, which is what Wike did yesterday (on Thursday), against the verdict of the Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the APC chorused.
RETURN OF POLITICS OF BITTERNESS
Surprisingly, the politics of bitterness that Wike declared would never happen again in the state has since crept back surreptitiously in the wake of the face-off between Wike and the presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar.
Lee Maeba, a chieftain of the PDP, who is an ally of Atiku was the first to raise the alarm. Maeba, who represented the Rivers South-East District in the red chamber of the National Assembly, fell out of favour with Wike after he declared support for Atiku Abubakar.
Maeba said the likes of George Sekibo, Austin Opara, Celestine Omehia, Abiye Sekibo, Uche Secondus, Chinyere Igwe, Farah Dagogo, just to mention but a few who had identified with Atiku were all targets of the politics of bitterness.
Maeba said he had notified the Inspector General of Police, the Director, the Department of State Services and the state Commissioner of police on the said threat.
“I was informed of a meeting in Government House where they were planning how to attack me and kill me, and a name was mentioned. A certain superintendent, whom they say is in Government House Security.
“In this regard, I have called the Commissioner of Police and discussed with him. I have also told the Director, the Department of State Services. A petition about this has also gone to the Inspector General of Police,” he said.
Maeba further alleged that one of those said to be in the said meeting had constantly rained abuses on him and asked him to come home, even when he was not running for any elective position.
He said, “So, it is not a joke. I am not campaigning for any office. I am not running an election. Campaigns have not started. So, why every day you go on the dailies after abusing me, you say I should come home? Come home to do what, so that I will be killed? This is serious. I just want the public to know that there is a plot to kill me.”
Maeba further said he was supporting all the 51 candidates of the party for the 2023 elections, including the presidential standard bearer, Atiku Abubakar.
“I believe that a candidate of our party, the PDP has emerged and we do not need any other negotiation to support that candidate, who is Atiku Abubakar.
“I am also supporting the governorship candidate of our party in the state, the three senatorial candidates, the 13 House of Representatives candidates and all our state house of assembly candidates to win the elections, nothing more. If they win, it is a victory for all of us who are members of the party,” Maeba stated.
In August, Wike ordered the sacking of the Governing Council of the Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Rumuola in Port Harcourt, which was headed by Maeba.
It was the turn of Omehia last week as the State House of Assembly derecognised him as a former governor of the state.
The House, in a manner many found difficult to explain, revised a motion it passed in 2015 and approved another disrobing Omehia of all entitlements as a former governor.
Leader of the House, Martin Amaewmule, on Thursday moved a motion to reverse an earlier resolution of the 8th Assembly on June 30, 2015, that compelled the Executive Arm, headed by Governor Nyesom Wike to recognise Omehia as a former governor and be accorded all entitlements, privileges and benefits.
He argued that the continued recognition of Omehia in that capacity was an affront to the Supreme Court judgment which in 2007 removed Celestine Omehia as a governor for not being the duly elected candidate in that year’s election.
The lawmaker also submitted a copy of the Nigerian Weekly Law Report that contains the landmark judgment which removed Omehia from office and declared Rotimi Amaechi as the duly elected candidate of the PDP at the time and the right person to occupy the office of the governor.
The lawmaker argued that the 9th Assembly now has a better knowledge and particulars on the said Supreme Court judgment, hence the need to rectify all errors and mistakes made by the state regarding it.
Amaewmule who represents Obio/Akpor Constituency one listed four requests for the House to consider.
1. That the House should rescind its earlier resolution that compelled the governor to recognize Omehia as an ex-governor.
2. That Omehia should cease to use the title “HIS EXCELLENCY” forthwith. And that Omehia should stop using the acronym “GSSRS”, meaning, Grand Service Star of Rivers State, a state honour meant for an incumbent and former governors alone.
3. That Omehia should refund all monetary entitlements received from the Rivers State Government, especially the sum of N600 million in benefits and N96.5 million in pension he has so far received as of September 2022 from the Rivers State Government within seven days.
4. And finally, any other decisions that the house deemed necessary.
The motion was seconded by the Whip of the House, Evans Bipi.
During the debate of the motion, all the lawmakers who made contributions, including the representative of Celestine Omehia’s constituency in Ikwerre Local Government Area, Anselm Oguguo, agreed to the prayers. The Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani said the house was right in taking the decision because no law is absolute.
In a two-minute video posted on the official facebook page of Governor Nyesom Wike on Saturday, he justified the latest action of the State House of Assembly as he proceeded to sign the instrument enabling the motion and subsequently removed the portrait of Omehia from among those of the former governors of the state.
He said “So many people will bring politics. Once you know that your conscience is clear and you’re doing the right thing, you don’t bother yourself, you move on and do the work you are supposed to do. When they told me this yesterday, I had to call the Attorney General for him to give me his legal opinion, and the Attorney General was of the opinion that they were right. That, in the first instance, the recognition was extra-judicial, that the Assembly has no power to change the judgment of any court, not to even talk of the Supreme Court. And that his benefits and entitlements were never paid, but yesterday, it was revealed that the state government coughed out such money as recommended by the Assembly. And now that they have sent the recommendations to me, I thank God today, without looking back, I have signed it as an instrument and it would be gazetted for record purposes.”
The video clip then moved to show Governor Wike signing the instrument and then panned on the portrait of Omehia, which the governor then moved toward, removed it and it, and handed it to an aide to be taken away.
“Back in 2015, it was politically correct to recognise Omehia but with the political realities of today, it’s no longer expedient”
DEMAND FOR APOLOGY
The APC in the state wasted no time in asking Governor Wike and the Rivers State House of Assembly to apologise to the people of Rivers State for recanting on according Omehia the status and privileges as former governor against the decision of the Supreme Court.
Darlington Nwauju, Rivers APC spokesperson, demanded the apology hours after the State Assembly last week resolved to disrobe Omehia of all benefits as a former governor and a directive to Governor Wike to activate a state instrument at ensuring Omehia refunded all benefits he had enjoyed to the tune of N695.5million while the Wike’s administration so recognised him.
Nwauju said, “It is one example of legislative brigandage wherein the Rivers State Assembly brazenly committed an affront on the 25th of October 2007 judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria which declared that in the eyes of the law, Sir Celestine Omehia was never a Governor of Rivers State.
“Back in 2015, it was politically correct to recognise Omehia but with the political realities of today, it’s no longer expedient. A state Assembly maliciously disregarded the letters and spirit of the October 25, 2007 judgement, only to turn around to shamelessly demand that the privileges Omehia enjoyed as a result of its infantile rascality in 2015, be refunded within seven days.
“Should the Rivers State House of Assembly not be apologizing to Rivers people by now for poor representation? A Greek gift offered Omehia to spite former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, was today effortlessly retrieved.
“The deployment of political might in Rivers State and the obvious abuse of such powers is a dangerous signal to the growth of democracy in the state.
“How can a State House of Assembly which should ordinarily serve as the bastion of democracy, the voice and conscience of Rivers people, be reduced to the Governor’s lackey and attack dog against the Governor’s perceived political enemies? Let Rivers people judge.”
