Charlez Blog

The chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State, Chief Felix Obuah has said that Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s opposition to President Goodluck Jonathan ignited his zeal to oppose the governor.
Chief Obuah, who made this known at his country home, Omoku, in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government   Area, also gave reasons why he supports the Nyesom Wike funded Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) in Rivers State.
Governor Amaechi’s camp had often accused Wike, who is the Supervising Minister for Education and Obuah of using GDI as a platform to campaign for 2015, inspite of a ban on political campaigns 90 days before an electionby the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“If   this group (GDI) of people have so respected me, and not only that, going from place to place, saying they should support PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan, saying that the man has done well.  Check his (Jonathan’s) score card, for instance. Should I now support a man, who is saying bad things about our President? Or, should I not appreciate people who are saying that the man has done well?
“So, because of the good work and the preaching GDI had done, I decided to associate myself with such a group because, theirs is not cult group. They carry out their activities in the open, they speak to the people and they understand them”, he said.
The PDP chairman debunked the allegation that GDI was being used to campaign for the president saying, “Let me assure you that they have not lifted ban on political activities. That’s why you can’t hear anywhere that PDP is going from one LGA to the other, to campaign. Peoples Democratic Party has not flagged off its campaign, I have never gone out to campaign for PDP, the Minister has not done that, too. He is only appreciating a group that has given him honour.”
Mr. Obuah, who said he was unhappy but helpless over the July 9 mayhem in the Rivers State House of Assembly which led to a take-over of its legislative functions by the National Assembly, asked Gov. Amaechi to find a way to resolve the problem since he created it.
He said: “I’m bothered but I cannot do anything. These are the problems created in the state by Amaechi. He single-handedly made sure that the legislative functions of our House of Assembly are taken over by the National Assembly. If he knows the way he gave away the function of our legislative House, he should go and bring it back, the same way”.
Mr. Obuah also faulted the actions of the National Assembly saying what ought to have been done was a warning or caution to the warring parties to sheathe their swords and allow them to continue their jobs rather than the hasty decision to take over the functions of the House.
The Chairman insisted that the Speaker of the State Assembly, Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Amachree, was ‘impeached’ by majority members of the House and not only by the five anti-Amaechi law makers and Evans Bipi ‘elected’.
“What happened in the House that day was because, a new Speaker was elected, and the Governor felt new Speaker was not in his good book. That was why he made sure the election didn’t stand. There was no way the number of five lawmakers would have outnumbered the 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers, that warranted Amaechi to come the House of Assembly. We saw it on the screen; the Speaker was impeached by the majority. It was the governor, his personal aides and ADC, that entered into the hallowed chamber, and after the mayhem they created in the House… he knows what he promised them that suddenly made them to change their minds. There was a successful impeachment by the majority, more than 2/3,” he said.
Attempts to get the reaction of the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs.  Ibim Semenitari, were unsuccessful.
-Saturday Sun