CROSS RIVER: Holding brief for Imoke

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ON January 27, 2012, history beckoned on Hon. Larry Odey, Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, when the Supreme Court sacked five governors in the country including, Senator Liyel Imoke, until then the Governor of the State.

Odey was upon the development inaugurated as the Acting Governor of the State. However, in what may be viewed as exhibition of loyalty and humility, he refused to sit on the governor’s seat in the conference hall during the inauguration.

He reportedly said that the seat was for his boss and he was just holding brief pending when his ‘boss’ will come back to take back his position.

Speaking after the oath of office was administered, he described the occasion as a sober moment for the state but expressed confidence that within a very short time the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, would conduct the rescheduled election so that Imoke could regain his seat.

In a state wide radio and television broadcast to the people of the state,  Odey explained that as acting governor, his “primary responsibility is to carry out governance of the state, stabilize the polity and prepare the enabling environment for the conduct of a free and fair election.”

Gov. Imoke

He promised to adhere to this programme strictly as his government has no intention of altering the machinery of governance “by making changes as this can only be done when it may become necessary” adding, “all appointees of government particularly members of the State Executive Council are to continue to carry out their duties as usual.”

Odey who represents Yala 11 State Constituency asked public servants and members of the public to direct all issues that require his attention to him even as he solicited the cooperation of government workers particularly permanent secretaries who control the levers of government.

“All ongoing projects and programmes are to continue as scheduled. Consultants and executing ministries, Departments and Agencies are to ensure that all works are executed according to specification and timeline. We will not hesitate to bring to book any act capable of disrupting the planned programmes of this administration. We will remain focused on our commitment to serving the people.

“Pending when the Independent National Electoral Commission will commence the process for the governorship election in the state, I appeal to you all to remain law abiding and go about your daily chores. I thank you all for the understanding shown so far, especially the solidarity shown by various interest groups in the state,” he stated.

His broadcast drew the ire of the chairman of Hope Democratic Party, Dr. Theo Onyuku for his assertion that he was holding brief for a particular governorship candidate, saying, “We find the comment saddening, unfortunate and thoughtless.”

Historical chance

The medical doctor-turned politician said, “Here is a man with a historical chance to create a level playing ground for the forthcoming gubernatorial election, brazenly taking side and rooting for a particular candidate. HDP demands a retraction of that statement and advises the acting governor to exhibit decorum in his utterances. He must rise against partisanship politics and preside over a peaceful and credible poll,” he said.

However, after the broadcast, nothing again has been heard from the acting governor and some sources at the governor’s office say that since his oath-taking, he has not been seen in the office. Others allege that he is has been holed up in Abuja where he is said to be regularly conferring with Imoke.

It would be recalled that few months ago as the speaker of the State House of Assembly, his colleagues in the house had attempted to impeach him over alleged high handedness and late coming to the house but Imoke’s intervention helped him to keep his job as Speaker.

The momentum for Imoke ahead of the election has also been boosted by the open support he is said to be receiving from the erstwhile Governor of the state, Mr. Donald Duke. Duke had been alleged in some quarters to be ambivalent towards the re-election of his friend and political soul mate. But the appointment of Mr. Duke as senior adviser to the Imoke campaign may have put all such doubts behind.

Kogi: Back from the brink, Wada in his strides

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

WHAT started as a political drama in Kogi State last Friday after the sack of former Governor Ibrahim Idris is this weekend crystallizing towards a reinvigoration of the apparatus of government in the Confluence State.

Following the sack of Idris and four other former Governors confirmed by the Supreme Court to have overstayed their term in office, Kogi State was enveloped in a drama that saw two persons laying claim to the governorship.

Captain Idris Wada who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the gubernatorial election of last December, machinery was immediately set to swear him in by his supposed political godfather, former Governor Idris.

However, before he could be sworn in, a statement issued by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke was issued directing security agencies to give support to the inauguration of the Speakers of the five affected states as Acting Governors.

It was perhaps based on that directive that the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Nasir Ajanah who was invited to perform the inauguration of Wada pulled back.

Ajanah who was said to have honoured the former Governor’s invitation to the Government House, however, came without his ceremonial robe giving currency to feelings that he was not prepared for the inauguration.

After some consultations with the former Governor he left the Government House and immediately became unavailable for many hours. In his absence the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga was fetched to handle the oath taking by Wada.

The next time the Chief Judge was seen in public, he was swearing-in the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello as Acting Governor.

The development immediately threw the state into political confusion as two persons were seen as calling the shots in the state.

It took the intervention of the presidency to resolve the issue as Bello was prevailed upon to drop his claim. Meanwhile, the well known ethnic divisions in the state came into play on the issue.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Adoke who gave the instruction for the inauguration of the Speaker, the Chief Judge of the  State who refused to swear in Wada and the Speaker are all from the Igbira ethnic group in the state. The Igbiras who populate the Kogi Central Senatorial district have never produced a Governor for the state.

The Acting Speaker would have been the first Igbira man to have occupied the position, a possibility some alleged was the inspiration behind the Adoke directive.

The Chief Judge has, however, pulled back and was reported to have led the top echelon of the state judiciary on a courtesy visit to Wada.

Wada was also gifted by the pronouncement of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC that he should be sworn in.

With the political machinery settled around him, the new Governor has since been moving to give a positive direction to the affairs of the state. He has inaugurated a think tank of professionals led by the respected Prof. Francis Idachaba to produce a blueprint for the development of the state.

Changing dynamics in Bayelsa

By Samuel Oyadongha

ALthough the sacking
of Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State last week by the Supreme Court could be best described as a blow to the camp of the former governor it has turned out to be a big relief to the Peoples Democratic Party.

The verdict of the apex court was all the PDP in Bayelsa State needed to whittle down what was feared to be Sylva’s possible support for any of the opposition parties to scuttle the PDP’s chances of returning to Creek Haven, following the treatment meted to him by the leadership of the PDP.

Sylva is locked in legal battle with the PDP to validate his candidacy for the February 11 governorship poll based on the January 19, 2011 primaries he won before his disqualification from the November 19, 2011 primaries in which Seriake Dickson emerged victorious as the party’s flag bearer.

Sylva and Dickson

The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration that only the candidates who emerged after the Court of Appeal judgment of April 15, 2011 would be recognised as candidates in the elections may have sealed the hope of the former Governor from contesting the governorship race causing realignment of interest in the politics of the state.

With the mantle of leadership falling on the Speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Nestor Binabo, the implication is that the troubled PDP would now go into the February 11 as a united family without the dominant influence of Sylva as a sitting governor.

Fight against the party
It was the contention of observers that Sylva’s loss of immunity had minimised his ability to sustain his fight against the party. Already, loyalists of the former governor have started realigning their interests and drifting to Dickson’s camp who is believed to have the blessing of President Goodluck Jonathan.

A source said the leadership of the party had mounted pressure on the acting Governor to stabilise the crisis_ridden party before the election.

Though Binabo had made some changes in the cabinet of the former governor by removing the former Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Gideon Ekeuwe, the former Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Doifie Ola and the Chief of Staff, Samuel Ogbuku, it was reliably learnt that other cabinet members would be retained on the condition that they throw their weight behind the PDP to deliver Dickson in the February 11 election.

“Any of the cabinet members found engaging in any act likely to endanger the emergence of the PDP candidate, Seriake Dickson would be removed,” said a source. For those sympathetic to the Sylva candidacy, their best bet is to work for the success of the PDP at the poll believing the pendulum could still swing in the direction of the former who is having a pending case at the Supreme Court.

Interestingly, Binabo is from the same Bayelsa West senatorial district with Dickson. The zone is yet to produce the governor of the state and Binabo would not want to be seen as working against the interest of the zone if he is to remain relevant in the politics of the area.

Binabo was also said to be working on the promise that he would replace Dickson at the House of Representatives after serving his brief tenure as the acting governor since he would not retain his Speakership position at the expiration of his tenure should the PDP clinch the poll as the zone cannot produce the governor and speaker at the same time.

He was said to have secured the assurance from Dickson that he (Dickson) would support him to occupy the constituency’s seat after emerging as the governor of the state. Following the development, the acting governor it was learnt was also required to prevail on members of the state House of Assembly to give Dickson their maximum support.

Zayyana’s first steps in  Sokoto politics

BY ABDALLAH EL-KUREBE
FOLLOWING the Supreme Court’s removal of governors of Adamawa, Bayelsa, Edo, Kogi and Sokoto states on Friday, February 27 2012, Speaker of Sokoto State House of Assembly, Alhaji Lawali Zayyana was the following day sworn in as the acting governor of the state by the Chief Judge, Justice A’ishatu Dahiru.

This was in compliance with the provision of Section 191(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. After taking his oath of office, Zayyana, whose swearing in could not hold on Friday as obtained in the other four states due, called for understanding of the people of the state whom he described “as peace loving citizens of our dear state” to go about their normal activities without let or hindrance.

“We should not forget that we are members of the same family bound by common destiny and whose ultimate aim is the development of our dear state,” he had said while assuring the people of the state government’s commitment to lasting peace.

Zayyana said: “I look forward to a successful outing for (the sacked governor)  Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko and his eventual return as the governor of the state.

This will afford him the opportunity to continue with his laudable projects.” He stressed the need for the citizenry to shun unpatriotic elements, who plant seeds of discord and acrimony and “join hands together to promote peace and unity of our dear state in whatever capacity we find ourselves.”

First official duty on Saturday evening: Zayyana’s first official duty was to receive members of  the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) led by its National President and Editor-in-Chief of Vanguard, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, who were in Sokoto for the body’s Standing Committee Meeting.

He told the media egg heads and the media to help in the search for peaceful co-existence in the country.

On the February 18 guber polls, he said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would win. “Nothing has changed. Our party already has its candidate and if election is held today, Magatakarda will win.”

At Wamakko’s residence when he returned from Abuja Monday, January 30 2012 was the date that former governor Wamakko returned from Abuja after the Supreme Court verdict. Speaking at the residence of Wamakko where the reception for his return was held, Zayyana said victory for the party and f its candidate, Wamakko was assured come February 18 2012.

He urged the youths to avoid violence of all forms. “Youths and the generality of the people of the state should shun violence in all its ramifications.”

Unity of purpose

He disclosed that the entire membership of the party in the state would work to ensure the return of Wamakko during the February gubernatorial poll in Sokoto state.  Retains Wamakko’s political appointees as a measure of his commitment to the unity of purpose in the pursuit of an all-out win for Wamakko, the acting governor on Monday, issued a statement announcing the retention of all political office holders, including commissioners, special advisers and assistants, etc made by Wamakko.

While appealing to all political office holders to remain steadfast and committed to the success of the administration, he pledged to not only sustain but also continue with the laudable programmes and policies of the Wamakko Administration.

Romance with the media

Tuesday, January 31 2012 was yet another day the acting governor sought audience with Journalists at the Government House.

He once again emphasised the role of the media in the sustenance of not only democracy but also peace and harmony. “Without Journalists, democracy will hardly be sustained and the promotion of peace and harmony among the people of this country will be a near impossible thing to achieve.

More so, you serve as illuminating force between the government and the people where you enlighten them about programmes and policies of government for better understanding by the people,” Zayyana told newsmen.

Meanwhile, Wamakko’s supporters are at peace with Zayyana’s bold steps to ensure the former governor’s victory on February 18. “We have in the person of Lawali Zayyana, a deliverer; one in whose wisdom and messenger-ship, we believe,” said Faruk Malami Yabo, the state Commissioner of Finance.