THE Rivers State police command, on Monday, banned all political rallies from holding in the state.The decision was on Monday conveyed to the media by the spokesman of the state police command, Ahmed Muhammad, through a press statement.
According to the statement, the decision to ban political rallies followed recent heightening tension in the state, adding that the command would not provide security for any group henceforth.
The statement further noted that political party membership drive would only be allowed as prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The Rivers State police command wishes to inform members of the public that as a result of increasing political tension in the state, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State police command, Mr Joseph Mbu, has banned all political rallies in the state under whatever colouration or name.
“Accordingly, all public activities involving rallies of Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), Save Rivers Movement (SRM), Rivers Leadership Advancement Foundation (RIVLEAF) and whatever other names, are hereby banned.
“Rivers State police command will not provide security for any group in whatever guise,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Supervising Minister of Education and arrowhead of the anti-Governor Rotimi Amaechi forces in Rivers State, Mr Nyesom Wike, has said President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, had nothing to do with the crisis rocking the state, noting that Amaechi was only dragging the duo into the crisis to gain attention.
This was as he said the crisis was being magnified by Amaechi and his group through the media, as economic activities had continued in the state unhindered.
He said whenever his group, GDI, was barred from holding rallies by the police, they did not cry wolf as Amaechi and his group were wont to do.
Wike, speaking on Channels Television, on Monday, maintained that at the head of the present crisis was the governor’s decision to be in opposition to the presidency and the ruling party, a decision he described as being against the cultural and historical background of Rivers State.
He accused the governor of being driven by vendetta and attempting to “force his will on the people.”
According to Wike, “when you are given a mandate and that mandate is given to you by the people, you must also do something that will make the people to go along with you.”
He added that the crisis in the state was based “on decisions that the governor has taken to lead Rivers State to an opposition, which has not happened since 1967 when the state was created.”
The minister said it would be a delusion of grandeur for the opposition to think it could win Rivers State in 2015, saying “the people of Rivers State cannot be convinced not to vote for their son. Forget the creation of Bayelsa State, the people of Rivers State see the president as their son.”
He said the state contributed two million votes to Jonathan’s victory in 2011 because all the political parties voted for him, but Amaechi could only get over one million vote.
Speaking further, the minister said the president and his wife had nothing to do with the crisis in the state, noting that “the only way Amaechi could gain attention was to drag the president into the crisis.
“If the president is so desperate as Amaechi is trying to portray him; Rivers State is not the only state where the governor is opposing the president, it is happening in some other PDP states. So, why is there crisis in only Rivers State?”
Wike explained that the crisis started as a result of Amaechi’s attempt to rid the state “of some people he identified as strong, in order not to have his succession plan challenged.”
The minister said he was nominated for ministerial post by Amaechi in order to get rid of him, after deterring him from running for the Senate in 2011.
Reacting to the question of where his loyalty should be in the crisis, Wike said he owed no loyalty to Amaechi but the constitution of Nigeria, the president and the people.
“My political history is not tied to the governor, as I had already become a local government chairman when the governor was speaker of the House of Assembly,” he said.
The minister also declared that contrary to claims that the Federal Government abandoned Rivers State, it had done a lot for the state through him, saying that the issue of the airport should not be portrayed as if nothing was being done, as works were still ongoing.
He took a swipe at Amaechi for deceiving the world with projects such as the monorail, where he said nothing tangible had been done and the building of schools in only the state capital.
When asked whether the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mbu, should be redeployed, following the criticisms from different quarters, Wike said “the redeployment of Mbu is neither here nor there,” adding that though the prerogative of redeploying a CP was with the Inspector General of Police, if he was deployed, it would set a bad precedent.
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