The two front runners in the two main political parties in Rivers State can each be called grand child of the Peter Odili political family. This is because both Dakuku Peterside, member representing Obobo/Nkoro and Andoni federal constituency, and Nyesom Wike, former minister of state for education, were recruited into politics and groomed in the Odili political group by Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. Even some of those who are falling by the wayside in the gubernatorial race such as the senator, Magnus Abe and Lee Maebe were Odili boys, men who met Odili through Amaechi or those close to Odili.
Now, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State is through with its governorship selection process which ended with a smooth primary election on December 4, 2014, a mere formality. The man to fly its flag to the 2015 governorship election is Peterside. He was a dark horse in the race while Magnus Abe the senator ran with high profile and more visible defence of Governor Amaechi and the APC in the rough months of police aggression against the APC.
Soon, Wike would also be formally elected as governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, thereby pitching two Odili grand-children against each other, though the Odili political camp has continued to split.
PETERSIDE
The Rivers State APC chairman, Davies Ikanya, had explained how Peterside emerged last week as the consensus candidate of the party. It was the same way Amaechi emerged in 2006, in the bid to address some old injustices. He said the APC was divinely set up to address three principal injustices visited on some sections of Rivers State. “One of them is addressing the unjust situation of the Riverine areas of the state not occupying the seat of power since 1999, after the eight years of Peter Odili and the eight years of the incumbent governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi – all from the upland section of the state. The second injustice is that of the Ogoni, a key tribe of the state, not producing a governor, deputy governor or speaker of the State House of Assembly since the creation of the state as far back as 1970. The last injustice is that of the South-East Senatorial Zone not producing the governor since the creation of the state”.
He went on: “Addressing these three major issues at the same time was a hectic task for the leadership of Rivers State APC and being a human organisation, it will be too much of a demand to achieve these three major goals at the same time. Therefore, in the wisdom of the party leadership they achieved two of the three goals by conceding power to the South-East Senatorial Zone and also resolved to shift power from the upland to the riverine area of the state. This zone presented four great leaders in the persons of most distinguished senator, Magnus Abe, Tele Ikuru, the deputy governor of Rivers State, Dakuku Peterside and George Feyi, secretary to the Rivers State Government, among other great leaders. Any one of them so chosen will still defeat whoever any other party may present in the 2015 elections but in a every given contest, one person must emerge and when the party decided to address the riverine issue Peterside from the Riverine area of Opobo/Nkoro LGAs, who is a symbol of unity of both the Ogoni people and both the riverine and upland sections of the state, becomes the general acceptance. This is the only way to counter the plan of the PDP to impose another Ikwerre man and another upland man to be governor to make it 24 years of same section”.
Besides, Peterside is one of Amaechi’s early allies up to the University of Port Harcourt where both studied and fought the establishment as students’ union leaders. Governor Amaechi has always made it clear he is not one to abandon old friends, and once mentioned all his old political friends and their present positions in political achievements. Peterside has been a fierce defender of the governor and does not leave anyone in doubt of his loyalty. The PDP has already accused the governor of nominating someone who would cover up any misappropriation in the present administration. The truth however, is that the numerous projects yet to be completed such as the N800 billion megacity, the N150billion relocation of the UST, the N100 billion power projects, the over N300 billion primary and secondary schools project, the N207 billion hospitals project, the N160 billion monorail, the N6 billion per year foreign scholarship scheme, some of them very controversial, may require a total ally to see them through, else, the huge investments in them would be washed down the drain.
Others think the APC needs a rugged and fearless contestant to face the expected fire from the Aso Rock-backed PDP and the seemingly ferocious Wike who has vowed to recover Rivers State to the PDP fold. Peterside was brought into the Odili administration as a special assistant (students affairs), the same way Amaechi was brought into the Rufus Ada-George government as special assistant on youth affairs.
WIKE
Wike, a lawyer, was recruited by Amaechi into the PDP when he was building a political camp in Ikwerre area to make a strong voice in the PDP then against the run of play being the then All People’s Party (APP) led by the then strongman of Ikwerre and Rivers politics, Sergeant Awuse. Amaechi was to become the new force in Ikwerre politics through who anyone must come to get favour in the Odili camp. This was how Wike was made local council chairman of the richest local council in Nigeria, Obio/Akpor. Amaechi said he still went ahead to defend Wike’s second term bid as LGA boss against huge opposition.
When Amaechi faced his own tribulation in the name of withdrawal saga that went up to the Supreme Court between 2006 and 2007, Wike stood behind his mentor until the unexpected victory came on October 25, 2007. Wike rose to become what Amaechi was to Odili, and ended up what Amaechi is today to Odili.
Now leader of the PDP in the state and strong ally to the first family, Wike snatched the party structures from Amaechi, saw his former mentor off the party, and declared intention to run for governor. This went well at first until the issue of an Ikweree/upland man succeeding another Ikwerre man. This was a hushed affair until the likes of the Kalabari prince, Tonye Princewill, joined the race and the matter exploded.
Emma Okah, one of Wike’s strongest backers, has often explained that the PDP at the moment needed a strong person to wrest power out of Amaechi’s hand. He enumerated the various ways through which Wike fought for the PDP and how he has emerged as the face of the PDP in the state. He deposed and expects the others to understand that it is winning the election that was more important than which section the governor came from. Okah used rallies to explain the support base of each aspirant, pointing out that when Wike arrived from sojourn in Abuja in October (resignation as minister to contest governorship), that the crowd he pulled outweighed the crowd pulled by the 16 other aspirants put together to demonstrate against him.
Many believe that whoever had the backing of the presidency would carry the day, both in the PDP primaries and in the election proper. The first lady, who hails from Okrika in Rivers State, has since staked all her cards on Wike, telling her Ijaw kinsmen that when Amaechi was pelting her husband (Goodluck Jonathan) was it not only Wike that was man enough to step out and confront the governor?
The other 20 aspirants have fought hard to demonstrate seriousness and 16 of them have even taken the path of opposition to Wike as far as making life miserable for the national secretariat of the PDP. They insist that power must shift to other ethnic groups in the state in the PDP. But all of this has been met with disqualifications and disownment. Soon, Wike would emerge as PDP flag bearer because all the delegates so far are almost from his camp.
Conclusion:
The battle is now between APC’s Peterside who has already emerged to face whoever the other party would bring. Pundits are not looking far from Wike who is sure to emerge, despite home tackles. It would therefore, be a test of will versus grit, Amaechi versus Jonathan, power shift versus retain of status quo, and federal might versus grassroots solidarity.
Ignatius Chukwu
