Jonathan, Amaechi lock horns over Rivers stadium

President Goodluck Jonathan and
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers
State locked horns again on
Saturday over the use of the Rivers
State stadium for a Peoples
Democratic Party rally.
The two fell out with each other
several months ago leading to the
defection of Amaechi from the PDP
to the opposition All Progressives
Congress. The Rivers governor is
also not in good terms with the
First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan,
over claims that the President’s
wife wanted to control him and the
state. Mrs. Jonathan has repeatedly
denied this allegation.
On Friday, in an apparent move to
counter the refusal by Amaechi to
grant the state PDP permission to
use the Adokiye Amiesimaka
Stadium for the PDP presidential
rally armed soldiers took over the
stadium.
Jonathan’s presidential rally is
billed to hold on Wednesday,
January 28.
Amaechi had cited an ongoing
construction work on the sporting
facility as the reason for turning
down the request.
The governor had also maintained
that since the stadium was one of
the projects his administration was
bent on completing before leaving
office, it would be unnecessary to
stop work on the 40,000 capacity
sports complex located in
Igwuruta-Ali, Ikwerre Local
Government Area due to a political
rally.
The soldiers moved into the
stadium Friday night and were still
within the facility when SUNDAY
PUNCH visited the place on
Saturday.
The soldiers mounted guard at the
two main entrances to the stadium.
More soldiers were seen alighting
from a Hilux van while others were
stationed at different points within
the stadium complex.
One of our correspondents
gathered that the governorship
candidate of the PDP in the state,
Mr. Nyesom Wike, was led to the
stadium by a group of security
agents, including men of the
Department of State Security at
about 12: 50pm on Saturday.
Sources said Wike, who is the
former Minister of State for
Education, was at the stadium to
inspect the facility ahead of his
party’s presidential rally on
Wednesday.
The leadership of the PDP in the
state had alerted the police and
other security agencies of an
alleged threat by Amaechi to
mobilise his supporters against the
party should it (PDP) insist on
holding the President’s rally at the
stadium.
Wike had also vowed that the
facility would be available for the
President’s rally.
Reacting to the occupation of the
stadium by soldiers, Amaechi told
SUNDAY PUNCH that Jonathan was
not prepared for a free and fair
election.
The governor, in a telephone
interview with one of our
correspondents in Abuja on
Saturday, said it was unfortunate
that the President was preaching
one thing but doing another.
He said, “If the President wants free
and fair election, why would he use
armed soldiers to forcefully take
over a state government facility
when it has not be given to him or
his party to campaign?
“Work is ongoing at the stadium
and another one has been given to
them to hold the rally. Why must he
insist on using the stadium where
workers are still working?”
The governor asked Nigerians and
the international community to
focus on the country and the state
in particular, warning that the PDP
and Jonathan must be held
responsible for any breakdown of
law and order during or after the
elections.
He appealed to the people of the
state and members of his political
party, the APC, to remain calm in
the face of the “underserved
provocation from the President
they laboured to put in power.”
Meanwhile, suspected political
thugs on Saturday attacked the
venue of an APC governorship rally
in Okrika Local Government Area of
Rivers State.
The hoodlums reportedly threw
explosives into the arena, which
was prepared for the campaign of
the APC governorship candidate in
the state, Dr. Dakuku Peterside.
The equipment for the event was
destroyed by persons, who were
said to have stormed the National
School Field in a white Hiace bus.
Okrika is the home of the wife of
President Jonathan, Patience, who
was at the governorship rally of the
PDP at the same venue on
Thursday, January 22, 2015.
Speaking on the attack, the APC
Chairman in Okrika, Mr. Christian
Asifamaka, said the armed youths
began to shoot sporadically at the
venue as early as 3:45am.
Asifamaka stated that the thugs
later resorted to throwing
explosives into the arena,
destroying the podium and sound
system in the process.
The armed youths, according to the
Okrika APC chairman, came from
Igbiri community, an area that
shares a border with Mrs.
Jonathan’s Oba Ama community.
“Those setting up the sound
system and the podium were
forced to flee for dear lives. At
about 4am they started shooting
explosives into the arena. The boys
came in a white Hiace bus and they
are allegedly from Igbiri, a
community that shares borders
with Mrs. Jonathan’s Oba Ama
community,” Asifamaka said in his
statement.
Confirming the incident, the state
Commissioner for Police, Mr. Dan
Bature, said a group of unidentified
persons attacked the campaign
ground with explosive device
suspected to be dynamite.
Explaining that no life was lost
during the attack, Bature, who
spoke with reporters in Port
Harcourt, said the Police Bomb
Disposal Unit had begun
investigation on the matter.
He noted that the attack in Okrika
had increased tension in the state
ahead of the February 2015 general
election
He said, “While the command is
determined to discharge its
constitutional mandate of
protection of lives and property, all
political parties are hereby warned
to adhere strictly to the Code of
Conduct guiding political parties in
the state, respect of law and order,
and eschew violence in all its
ramifications before, during and
after the 2015 general elections.
“The command is determined to
enforce law and order, provide
adequate security for all political
parties and ensure that the full
wrath of the law is visited on any
person or persons, who dare and
wish to test our capability.”
The attack on the venue for the APC
campaign forced the party to call off
its rally slated for Saturday.
A statement signed by Mrs. Ibim
Semenitari, the Director of
Communication of Greater
Together Campaign Organisation,
the campaign team of the
governorship candidate, stated that
the cancellation became necessary
as a result of the early Saturday
violence against APC members and
supporters.
“The APC in Rivers State has called
off its governorship campaign rally
scheduled for Saturday, in Okrika.
Okrika is the birthplace of Mrs.
Patience Jonathan, wife of
President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The APC governorship candidate,
Dr. Dakuku Peterside, was expected
to unveil his Roadmap to
Prosperity, a revolutionary
economic blue-print for the
massive development of Rivers
State, to the Okrika electorate as
well as highlight the choice space
the area holds in the plan.
“Heavily armed thugs had in the
wee hours of the morning
besieged the National School Field,
Okrika, venue of the APC
governorship rally and opened
fire,” she said.