Rivers guber race: Estranged cousins in bloody threats

The coming governorship election in Rivers State is clouded by threats of violence coming from Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his estranged cousin, former governor Celestine Omehia. Our correspondent examines the issues.

The three foremost governorship candidates in Rivers State, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Abiye Sekibo of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and former governor Celestine Omehia of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) were of the PDP and close friends until 2007. In fact, Omehia and Amaechi are biologically related; they are cousins from the Ikwere ethnic group. But in their case, may be for now, blood has proved to be lighter than water.

The two men have since become ‘distant-cousins’ with the political rivalry between them speedily climaxing to personal hatred. Now it seems Omehia works in tandem with Sekibo, their party difference notwithstanding. Both have remained loyal to former governor, Peter Odili, under whose regime from 1999 to 2003, Amaechi was speaker of the state house of assembly while Sekibo was secretary to the state government and later Minister of Transport. Omehia, then special adviser to the governor wasn’t quite in the inner circle as people thought until he emerged governorship candidate in the run up to the 2007 elections, after the PDP substituted Amaechi who actually won the primaries.

Barely five months after Omehia was sworn in as governor in 2007, Amaechi succeeded in getting him off the way through the Supreme Court which ruled that he (Amaechi) was the legitimate candidate of the PDP. Since then, the two men have maintained sour relationship in spite of their blood ties. Sekibo has equally shown open opposition against Amaechi. The three men even took their enmity to an official capacity, when they emerged candidates in separate political parties to contend for the same seat. But there is suspicion from certain quarters that Omehia, whose APGA isn’t strong in the state like the ACN, merely came out to split the votes of the Ikwere people so that Sekibo could grab votes of Okirika people, Ogonis and others. Omehia had obtained a PDP nomination form for the governorship and was cleared by the party’s screening committee but he refused to appear for the primary elections that held in January. Amaechi won and Omehia defected to APGA.

None the less, enmity worsened among the three men after the national assembly elections in which the PDP won all three senatorial seats and House of Representatives except for Port Harcourt constituency II, which will take place alongside the governorship polls on April 26.

Omehia and Sekibo were quick to condemn the elections, saying the state government used security officials to manhandle their supporters and prevent them from voting. Uche Okwukwu, state chairman of ACN, even alleged that first lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, who hails from Okirika had ordered the Joint Military Task Force to work for the PDP.

“Upon her departure from the Port Harcourt International Airport on Tuesday April 5, Patience Jonathan, to the hearing of all present, directed the Joint Task Force (JTF) commanders to “deliver” Rivers State to the PDP “at all costs.” Okwukwu said at a post election briefing in Port Harcourt, alleging that “JTF aided PDP to harass, intimidates, and assault voters”.

APGA supporters joined the ACN at the post elections briefing and together, supporters of the two parties threatened to take on the PDP during the governorship elections.

Lt. Col. Timothy Anthiga, media co-ordinator of the JTF has since denied that allegation, saying the task force didn’t work for any political party or candidate in the elections. He also said that military men only helped in safe-guarding electoral officers and their materials as well as members of the public.

Sekibo and Omehia separately accused Amaechi and his aides of using security details to assault opposition members. “Wherever there was violence, Rivers government officials came with policemen. Like in Obia/Akpo, the chief of staff to the governor came there with truck load of mobile policemen attached to him, beat up people and scattered electoral materials. That is the kind of violence that we saw,” Sekibo told Daily Trust in an interview.

Last Tuesday, Amaechi alleged that Sekibo and Omehia had drawn up plans to unleash violence during the governorship elections. He alleged that Omehia had gone as far as recruiting the service of some policemen under zone 6, Calabar who are to attack Rumuigbo in Obio/Akpor local government during the elections on 26, April, 2011.

Speaking through his chief of staff and director general of his re-election campaign organisation, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike, Amaechi noted that Sekibo and Omehia held separate meetings on 15th and 17th April, 2011 at their residences during which plans were developed to attack some key members of the PDP in nine local government areas, and to deploy mercenaries to violently rig the governorship elections. He said the government has alerted security agencies and will use its might and resources, within the law, to resist the two governorship candidates. The governor also said that a petition has been filed to the police authorities.

Amaechi’s allegations may be true. It may also be that it is government that is planning the strategy it claims opposition wants to deploy.

Now, all the three candidates have been unguarded in their public utterances, which gave birth to likelihood of violence in the state. Starting with Amaechi, he more or less heightened the stakes of his opponents to a desperate level when he said barely two months ago that should he be re-elected, he will go after them and prosecute them over alleged mismanagement of public funds at the different times they held office in the state. He was apparently referring to Omehia, Sekibo and perhaps his predecessor, Odili.

In addition, Amaechi’s campaign body had, before the national assembly polls, openly said it would defeat ACN at Sekibo’s polling unit in Okirika town. This statement created tension and almost led to violence on the day of election in that particular ward 4 polling unit. When it was time for voting and materials came late, Sekibo’s men were quick to suspect Amaechi’s hand. Sekibo won the unit but PDP won the local government which was a key hold for the ACN.  The PDP even claimed that it won the ward 4 unit contrary to the results told journalists. Again, Amaechi’s remark on Tuesday that he will “resist” the threats from Sekibo and Omehia wasn’t quite a restrained response. It was daring.

Sekibo and Omehia have not been different. They often sounded desperate and, sometimes, their supporters openly threaten violence ahead of the governorship elections. The candidates do not caution their supporters publicly. For instance, a candidate for the state Assembly, seeking to represent Khana Constituency II, while protesting PDP’s alleged rigging of the national assembly polls, said in the presence of Omehia, and in his house: “we announce to Amaechi that he cannot rig elections in Ogoni land. If he wants it the violent way, we will not be peaceful in the next election. We will all be violent.” It was observed that Omehia who had served as chief security officer of the state couldn’t caution the man.

Again, Tamunos Dagogo Jaja, governorship running mate of Omehia in APGA, had alleged thus: “Almost all the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in the state where agents of the PDP in rigging the (national assembly) election.”

He alleged that in ward one (1) of Abua/Odua, local government area, the DPO, Dr. Uche Mike Chukuma, had intimidated and brutalized persons who turned out to vote in Unit 2 to 18. In ward 14 of Abio/Akpo Local Government Area, he said the DPO, Mrs Ngozi Otamiri physically assaulted the ward Collation Agent for APGA. The Police Public Relations Officer of the state command, Ben Ugwuegbulam said the opposition parties were entitled to their opinion and were free to make allegations but that the command wasn’t going to react to the accusations.

It is really curious that both sides have brought in security men at the centre of their allegations and threats. In the Niger Delta generally, there is close relationships between governors and heads of security agencies, especially heads of the JTF and the police. In fact so much money is deployed by governments to fight security threats through security chiefs. Therefore the opposition seem to allege correctly or otherwise that some of the security chiefs develop personal relationships with governors and go to the extent of becoming partisan in elections. But even if this is true, the reference to all DPOs in Rivers State as agents of the PDP does not appear healthy for the polity.

As it is now, many voters are getting scared; some are even talking of avoiding the election even though the state government has assured that it will guarantee the security of all residents. Going by the results of the national assembly elections, one may tip the PDP of victory in the governorship contest. More so, the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan has increased the popularity of PDP in the state and indeed the Niger Delta. But then, the governorship and assembly polls in Rivers promise to be different because the ACN and APGA have supporters including ex-militants who are bent on “resisting” a replica of PDP’s alleged rigging of the national assembly polls. Like it boasted before, the PDP has again vowed to win not only the governorship but also all 32 state assembly seats. The scenario is that of ‘Goliath versus heavily armed David’ and many are asking the question: who wins the Rivers governorship race that already threatens peace and security?

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