L-R
Chief Bisi Akande, Interim National chairman, APC; Governor Rotimi
Amaechi of Rivers State and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu former governor of Lagos
State/APC Leader all acknowledging cheers from supporters Tuesday at
the Rivers State Government house during a visit of the APC Leadership
to Rivers State. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke
ON APC leaders’ directive to APC legislators to shut down government
The directive was given to stop the lawlessness in the country particularly in Rivers State. It is the right step in the right direction because this act of impunity must stop, it is not part of democratic culture. I fully support it and will join others to comply with the directive. The height of patriotism is to respect the law under which we are elected. If you don’t respect the law which is the foundation of a democratic society, then there is no basis for democracy itself. APC cannot appear to be helpless in the face of impunity.
On the crises ravaging Rivers State
The crises that have engulfed Rivers in recent times are condemnable and it should be condemned by all men of goodwill.
You need to understand the background to appreciate what the situation is. First, this Save Rivers Movement (SRM) is a non-governmental organisation.
Yes, police claimed they are sympathetic to APC, the group decided to convene a peaceful rally and notified the police seven days ahead but unfortunately on that day, police cordoned off the area when the people had gathered and started shooting tear gas at innocent and helpless citizens that are without arms.
At the end, Senator Magnus Abe was shot and several others were wounded. We must condemn that; the implication is that there is an affront on our constitutional drive, freedom of association, freedom of movement and freedom to carry out our legitimate political choices. This is an affront on those rights which are constitutionally guaranteed by the 1999 constitution, nothing in that constitution gave the police powers to deal with the public the way they so dealt with the group.
Nigerians must rise up to defend their rights, if they don’t, then these people will continue to trample on their rights especially the police. The police that are supposed to be the enforcer of our laws are now the principal law breaker, they are now the ones acting as if they are the laws to the land.
The second dimension is the fact that this has shown that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is intolerant of the opposition or alternative choices.
That again must be condemned because democracy is about people having choices, democracy is about the views of the majority while the minority must be able to express themselves as well.
The PDP controls the police and they are extremely intolerant of the opposition.
Finally, it is obvious that Rivers State has become a test case of what will likely happen in the days ahead especially the 2015 elections. The government at the centre is becoming more repressive, they are showing that they don’t respect the rules of engagement and if Nigerians do not stand up to defend their rights, then their votes will not count in the 2015 elections.
It is clear that the PDP will use the police to suppress Nigerians but I know that Nigerians are irrepressible, nobody can rig elections.
There are divergent views as to whether Sen Magnus Abe was actually shot or not. What do you have to say to that?
I was not actually on ground in Rivers as at the time of this development but I contacted a lot of people present when the development happened and they confirmed to me that police shot tear gas and rubber bullets and Senator Abe was rushed to Krisany Medical hospital in Port-Harcourt where he got immediate medical attention and I am told the hospital authorities said he should be flown to London to get better medical attention and I can confirm he is in London at present.
Given the nature of the Rivers crisis, do you support calls for state police?
I have been an unrepentant supporter of state police and I have my reason for it. I have said it severally that Nigeria is the only place in the world where unitary police exists.That is unfortunate and that explains the inefficiency and ineffectiveness in our policing. We need to understand that policing is by intelligence. Nobody can ignore the fact that intelligence is key and you can’t gather more intelligence than those people who are in that area, they know the individuals and their characters, they will know them better.
The secondary thing is the argument that it is subject to abuse, that again for me does not add up. Are you saying the current police controlled by the Federal Government is not subject to abuse? Anything that is not regulated is subject to abuse and that is why our position all along has been to put in place a regulative framework to check the police and policing institutions.
On the clash on interest between old and new members in the APC
APC in Rivers state is one big family that accommodates members of defunct new PDP, defunct CPC, ACN, ANPP and several other parties who believe in the progressive ideology, that human nature needs to make progress and we can’t make progress if we rise on pre conceived notion, our ideas must be dynamic.
Views of the majority
We can’t make progress if we are not driven by the people, we can’t make progress where the interest of the few will reign over the interest of the majority. We cannot make progress unless the views of the majority is accommodated. What has happened in Rivers State is everybody has a sense of accommodation and so I don’t foresee any crisis in Rivers APC.
Why didn’t some commissioners, advisers and staunch supporters of Governor Amaechi defect with him to APC?
We have different interest and motives for going into public service. Some are driven by sincere commitment to serve the people, others are driven by their personal interest. So all these factors determine the choices we make. The resignation we have had in Rivers, you need to look at the individuals who resigned and the reasons for their resignation, some may be well intended and some may be because they lack the moral courage to defend the good of their people.
There are different reasons why we have this resignations but none has said the government of Governor Rotimi Amaechi has not performed or his government is not working for the interest of Rivers people.
Nobody has said that. Some have said for personal reasons while some said they are not comfortable with APC, they prefer to stay back in PDP.
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