-Police teargas fans -Buhari, Akande, Tinubu, Oyegun, others in Rivers
-APC 'll sanitise Nigeria, says Aliyu All Progressives Congress (APC)
leaders stormed Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, yesterday to
persuade Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi to join the battle for a
better Nigeria. But the colourful visit was not without some initial
obstacles. Policemen, on the orders of Commissioner
Mbu Joseph Mbu, barred Amaechi's teeming supporters from the Port
Harcourt International Airport,
Omagwa where they headed to welcome the visiting APC leaders. The main
gate on the Port Harcourt-Owerri Expressway was locked against the sea
of admirers of
Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum
(NGF). But the people were
undeterred. They started singing, drumming and dancing as from 6 am,
not minding the teargas canisters
fired at them by the policemen. Amaechi flew in from Lagos yesterday
morning to receive a former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari, APC Interim Chairman Chief Bisi Akande, party leader Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu and many others. After landing at the Port Harcourt
International Airport, the NGF chairman was on his way to the
Government House, Port Harcourt to freshen up and get ready to receive
the visitors. On getting to the airport's main gate in a convoy at
9:20 am, Amaechi noticed that some policemen did not
allow his supporters in. The governor spoke with the senior police
officers at the main gate, but they were adamant. Amaechi
made a detour and asked all the people at the gate to move in. Rather
than heading for the Government House, Amaechi decided to join his
supporters, trekking the four
kilometres back to the airport. But, it was an exciting walk. The
supporters were saying: "No intimidation"; "Mbu must go"; "We are for
Amaechi"; "Amaechi is our
man"; "Amaechi is doing well"; "We are solidly behind our performing
and focused governor"; and "Let us
avoid sentiments", among others. Later in an interview with reporters
at the VIP Lounge, the NGF chairman said the police had become the
military wing of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The aircraft,
marked ZS-ZOT, painted white with yellow and blue stripes, which
conveyed from Abuja,
Buhari; Tinubu; Akande; a former Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari; Chief
Tom Ikimi; a former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun;
and some leaders of the APC,
landed at 10:53 am. A long convoy of vehicles departed the airport at
10:57 am, with the governor's jubilant supporters lining
both sides of the road from the airport to the junction. It was an
opportunity for Amaechi to show the dignitaries some of his
administration's projects. The convoy headed for the Model Primary
School at Elekahia, Port Harcourt. The visitors saw also the
nearby Model Health Centre, before heading for the Government House,
Port Harcourt where a huge crowd
had gathered. The main gate of the seat of power was unusually left
open, for the carnival-like reception near the
Presidential Lodge in the Government House. A long queue of Amaechi's
supporters, who were trying to
enter the seat of power, remained at the gate. Amaechi said at the
airport: "I flew in and wanted to go and change (dresses) to receive
my visitors. I got
to the gate (of the airport) and I was told that the policemen did not
allow my supporters into the airport. I
said an ordinary minister of state, who was my chief of staff (Chief
Nyesom Wike), would gather people at
Eleme (Rivers State on Sunday) with police protection, while a former
head of state, with some governors
arriving and police will not allow the people in; what type of country
is that? "Somebody said the police had become the military wing of the
PDP. That is not the only truth. The other
truth is that we are running a military government. I led the people.
I had to march them into the airport.
That's how we got here (VIP Lounge). I trekked from the gate to this
place (VIP Lounge). "For any breakdown of law and order in Rivers
State, police should be held accountable. If they had
allowed the people to come in, they would have been orderly. They were
here (at the airport) for the
purpose of receiving the guests. "The last time we were here (airport)
to receive the President (Dr. Goodluck Jonathan), Nyesom Wike and
his group mobilised people that booed me. If we had mobilised people,
there would have been crisis. "I quietly walked in; let them boo me
and I went to receive the President. By the same way they were
allowed to get to the airport, blocked all the roads, and in the same
way, they should have allowed the
people to come in to receive the guests. Buhari is a former President.
Bola Tinubu is a former governor
and there are other governors that are coming." After the inspection
of projects at Elekahia, Gen. Buhari said: "What I have seen, though
briefly, is what
you can give to the people – education. They will look after
themselves and will also be able to look after
their country. I am extremely impressed by what Governor Amaechi is
doing." Tinubu said: "Fantastic (projects). Putting people at the
cornerstone of his (Amaechi's) developmental
policy is what the goal of democratic government and good governance
is all about. It is demonstrated
clearly here. It is very impressive. "The MDG goal, the primary
education, the primary health and the staffing. Preparing the children
for the
challenges of the future. There is nothing in good governance, but
that." Members of the National and Rivers Assemblies, the Secretary to
the Rivers State Government, George
Feyii, commissioners, local government chairmen and other eminent
personalities were also at the airport
to receive the APC leaders. Thousands of supporters of the Rivers
governor, who also thronged the airport on Monday to welcome the
visiting leaders of the APC, were barred by policemen from the
facility. They stayed at the junction from 7
am till evening, but the visitors did not come. The President's wife,
Dame Patience Jonathan, was expected to leave Port Harcourt for Abuja
at 11:30 am
on Monday. The APC leaders were to fly in from Abuja around 2 pm, but
the First Lady did not leave until
the evening. The APC leaders' visit was postponed till yesterday. The
Rivers State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by
Chief Felix Obuah said the open
confession and resolve of Governor Chibuike Amaechi and his lawmaker
supporters yesterday is an
eloquent testimony that they had long defected from the PDP. A
statement signed by Jerry Needam, Special Adviser on Media to the
State Chairman noted that the
demand on Amaechi by the suspended lawmakers loyal to him and led by
Otelemaba Dan Amachree for
an immediate declaration for the APC is a mere camouflage to hoodwink
Rivers people into believing they
are being wooed to join the party. "We urge the police commissioner
and all the security agencies in the state and the country at large to
keep a tap on Governor Amaechi and his cohorts to ensure nobody is
taken awares as he is plotting", the
statement said.
--
Faith Olaniran
Mobile lines: +234-8062723258, +234-8074695684,
www.faitholaniran.blogspot.com
Twitter:@olaniranfaith
facebook:Faith Oluwalose Olaniran
A Seeker of the Unknown to man but Known to God.
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