|
PDP GUBER TICKET:
Austin Opara battles Amaechi again
…Pressures EFCC, Dares Odili
The last may not have been heard of the battle by the
opposition to ensure that the governorship ticket won by the
Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and Chairman
Conference of Speakers, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is
taken away. Authoritative sources in Abuja confirmed that
unknown to most persons, the man who is behind the spirited
efforts to ensure that the leadership of the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, dropped Amaechi is none other than his
erstwhile friend and brother, Rt. Hon. Austin Opara who is the
Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives. The
Beam gathered through a close source to the seat of power that
despite efforts by the PDP flag bearer in Rivers State to move
for reconciliation, by also reaching out to Opara who has been
bitter over the way he lost out of power in the power play
which engulfed the Party in the state during the period of the
Party’s congresses. Opara who had the support of the Party
Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, Abiye Sekibo-the former
Minister of Transport and some members of the governor’s
kitchen cabinet. This presumably gave him the needed assurance
that he would have emerged as the candidate for the elections.
While the battle raged with tension mounting on both sides,
Amaechi who before now was considered as the man to beat in
the Rivers guber race was also fighting hard to see that all
his efforts to build a strong and united Odili camp was not in
vain. Political analysists were of the view that Amaechi shot
himself in the foot when he sought to position his Ikwerre
brother as the nation’s number six man. A source close to The
Beam and who doubles as Opara’s campaign manger but would not
want his name in print confirmed that he was ousted from the
State Executive Council because he warned Amaechi of the
danger ahead should Opara become the Deputy Speaker. He said,
“I told my brother Amaechi that even though he had not told me
he would contest the governorship election, but I knew he
would for the fact that he is very popular. I warned him but
he was so much in a hurry to help Ikwerre people but he
wouldn’t believe me.”
Even when we contacted Opara in
Abuja three
months before the congress, he confirmed that he actually did
promise that he would not contest against Amaechi. When we
sought to know why he was reneging on his promise, he said,
“His boys keep harassing my boys and he won’t warn them. I
have complained to him severally. Any way things have changed”
Shocking as that may seem but it all happened and what is
now more worrisome is that Opara who is relying on the support
of some members of the governor’s family and his established
contact with the powers that be in
Abuja is
still fighting hard to strip Amaechi off the ticket. Opara was
alleged to have told his closest confidants that the Amaechi
matter would be settled the way Odili’s Presidential bid hit
the rocks. The Beam had reported in one of its editions on how
they stopped Odili that the ever ready services of the EFCC
Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu was used to stop Odili from even getting
the Number Two slot which saw the less fancied Goodluck
Jonathan of Bayelsa State picking the ticket.
The stage is set yet again and each day, different stories
crop up. The recent investigation of the State government and
the House of Assembly is said to be connected with the plot to
stop Amaechi whom they consider as Odili’s best choice.
Surprisingly, the seven aspirants who petitioned the EFCC seem
to have lost as the project has been taken over by Opara and
his group. With him are some unrepentant members of the
Federal House who see him as their leader. Most of them are
said to have benefited so much from Opara during the
controversial Third Term saga in which millions of naira was
doled out. Opara who confided in us sometime in
Abuja
that he knew Third Term would fail from the onset was the
point man in the House.
In a recent move to further confirm his supremacy, Austin
Opara’s brother-in-law who also doubles as his Personal
Assistant on
Thursday,
January 25, 2007 began sending text messages to most of their supporters saying that
Amaechi had been dropped the previous night. These sent wild
jubilation in their camp while the supporters of Amaechi were
again thrown into confusion. When The Beam contacted an aide
to the PDP National Chairman on the rumour making rounds, we
were told that there were serious efforts by Opara to have
Amaechi removed so that he could replace him. We also gathered
that the governor at a point was asked to submit two names for
Amaechi’s replacement but the governor declined preferring
that the Party would choose who ever they wanted as Amaechi is
said to be his preference.
But there are worries by the Party’s hierarchy over fears
that the PDP may lose the state if the popular candidate is
dropped. Opara whose house has been a beehive of activities in
the wake of the latest rumour is undaunted over the way Odili
feels. He is said not to be relenting in the fight.
Surprisingly, those who ignited the fire can no longer quench
it. The Party Chairman is said to be at a loss having been one
of those who made Opara feel that he would become the heir
apparent to the throne. Observers are worried at the spate of
the investigations of the EFCC and the speed at which they
want to turn in their reports. They say so many states in the
North that were in under investigation have had their cases
swept under the carpet. There are also reports that the group
behind the petitions in the state has concluded plans to
cripple the state with the men of the EFCC as they have
concluded plans to arrest the Party Chairman over alleged
corrupt charges if he fails to play ball. As the PDP sets to
flag off its Presidential campaign in
Lagos on
Saturday, it is still not clear whether the Party would have
the kind of clean sweep it had in the previous election
considering the fact that in most of the states, there is
crisis. The President during a visit by some American editors
on Thursday said that about three or four candidates of the
PDP are being investigated for corruption and if the charges
are fully established, they would be dropped.
Meanwhile, a group under the aegis of the Rivers People
Alliance has warned of the consequences of imposing an
unpopular candidate on the people of the state. It also warned
the PDP of choosing a candidate who is associated with cultism
and violence as these two vices have been the major problems
in the state. They vowed to expose the man behind the dreaded
Elegam Face cult group that caused mayhem in the Mile 3 area
of
Port Harcourt, the immediate constituency of Austin Opara.
More details next edition
back to top^^
|
Kula Community: No Missing Money ~Warring factions insist
 Contrary
to a media report in some section of the media that fresh
crisis looms in Kula Community over a missing N230m, the
warring factions in the matter have refuted the reports
but have rather attributed it to the handiwork of mischief
makers who want to take advantage of the problem in the
area to achieve whatever aim. In a telephone chat with The
Beam, the two sons of the slain Chief Opusingi, Kenneth
and Hope said there was no iota of truth in the report as
there was no missing money. They said, “There is nothing
like that. It was only the handiwork of the killers to
create more disaffection in the minds of the villagers.
Chevron and SHELL could be contacted for confirmation.
Nothing has happened to the money” They also confirmed
that the Chairman of the Council on the contrary has done
so much to help in maintaining peace in the relatively
volatile community. When contacted, Mr. Erekosima Yellowe
who is said to be the link man to the other factional
leader, Mr. Christian Don Pedro could not deny nor
confirms the story but promised to call back. But when
contacted, Mr. Ngo Kio, the Chevron Community Affairs
Officer who also is an indigene of Kula warned that he
should not be linked to such reports as there was no truth
in it. He said he was ignorant of any crisis in the
community. Further Beam checks revealed that those who are
bent on a smear campaign against the Chairman of the
Council are behind the negative report. During a
telephone conversation with the Chairman of the Council,
Barr. Tammy Danagogo Ph.D dismissed the reports as
according to him, he has no reason to meddle with funds to
the community from any of the Oil Companies. He said that
he was shocked at the report as he neither sees nor
touches such money. He urged the media to always cross
check their facts before going to the Press.
back to top^^ |
|
