SpicyTricks

- Tony Okocha

The battle for control within the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State seems to have take a new turn as some of the aggrieved aspirants for the governorship primaries have decided to take their fate into their hands.

It is no longer news that about 16 of the aspirants are pitched against the state exco led by Felix Obuah which is said to favour the former leader of the party, Nyeso Wike.

Wike's ambition to contest the election has once again whipped up the Upland-Riverine dichotomy in the state which was hitherto silent.

While the matter was brought before elder statesman and one time Minister for Information, Chief E.K. Clark amongst other leaders of the South-South, and awaiting the final decision of the party, one of the aggrieved aspirants, Tonye Princewill has shifted his focus on the real issues affecting the party to a personal animosity towards the from governor.

Tonye who is not relatively known to have a large followership in the PDP has accused the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi of having a pact with Nyeso Wike. He based his argument on grounds that the verbal war between the two is not commensurate with the perceived hate. Tonye also tried hard to convince readers that Wike's large financial war chest with which he is prosecuting his political ambition may actually be coming from Amaechi. He concluded that there is a deal between the two men who were once friends.

But the Chief of Staff to Gov. Amaechi, Tony Okocha has dismissed such insinuations as a figment of the imagination of Tonye Princewill. Okocha said, "How can anybody believe such insinuations coming from a man who has no followers but depends only on the media to win his political fights or win an election?". Continuing, he said, "there is no deal between Gov. Amaechi and Wike and never will there be such a deal to mete out injustice on other ethnic groups in the state. Its only a figment of his imagination and the earlier he comes to terms with reality that he has no support base to win the governorship primaries in his party, the better for him. Tonye should respect the sanctity of friendship and not bring to disrepute a man who adopted him into his political family just because he expects to fly the Ijaw sentiments to secure the PDP ticket. Even if the Ijaws are to be considered, the candidate can never be Tonye Princewill who cannot even win elections in his ward under a free and fair environment".

Recall that Tonye Princewill prior the 2007 elections was not known in the political terrain in Rivers state and Nigeria. But he was able to manoeuvre and take advantage of the crisis in the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, A.C.N. Rivers state chapter to dislodge the embattled front runner for the governorship ticket, Sergeant Awuse to clinch the ticket for the April 14, 2007 governorship election. It was said that former governor Peter Odili had paved the way for Tonye as he never wanted Awuse to fly the flag of the major opposition party.

Immediately after the election in which the PDP won and the candidate Celestine Omehia was declared winner, Tonye Princewill had gone to court to challenge the victory of Omehia on grounds that he was not the rightful candidate of the PDP, a matter which was already before the Courts. In the interest of peace, Amaechi upon his victory at the Supreme Court offered an olive branch to all other candidates and aggrieved persons. Tonye quickly embraced it and claimed that he had told the governor during the pendency of the case that once he emerged victorious, he would drop his matter against the PDP and Omehia in Court. For keeping to his promise, Amaechi co-opted him into the government even when he was yet to defect to the PDP. It was not out of fear of losing in court in the suit filed by Tonye that Amaechi agreed to bring him on board, rather, it was because Tonye first offered to drop the suit as he had read the handwriting on the wall through the precedence set by Ararume vs. Charles Ugwuh in a similar matter. Tonye knew that Amaechi had a good case and would win more so when President Obasanjo was no longer in power to stop Amaechi same way he stopped Ararume.

Tonye's appearance in Amaechi's government did not go down well with most of the governor's core supporters known as 'The Believers'. Wike, who was the Chief of Staff to the governor in the first tenure was never happy with the free hand which Princewill was given because Wike considered him an interloper and an opportunist who was reaping from where he did not sow.

In every convoy of the governor, Tonye was seen. The governor gave him the privilege of being privy to government decisions while both men where always seen together at public functions. He was said to have indicated interest in the multi-million naira contract for the Waste to Wealth contract which was awarded to late Ambassador Ajuru who was murdered in cold blood on his way from Aba. Suspicion grew as many believed that the only reason for Ajuru's assassination was due to the contract as his assailants did not take away anything from his car even when he had some money in his booth. Ajuru's murder is yet to be resolved and the prepetrators brought to book. Those who murdered him seem to be those who were angry that the governor sidelined them rather he awarded the contract to Ajuru.

It's also easy for the scion of the Kalabari monarch to go beyond the real issues affecting his chances of winning the PDP primaries as he had always had scores to settle with Wike. While both men worked with the governor, they never had it good as there was a cold war between them.

Meanwhile, Tonye who seems to enjoy media glitz and glamour had used the opportunity of his friendship with Amaechi to put up paid advertorials and billboards to support Amaechi's government though he surreptitiously used it to propagate himself politically. Even unsuspecting members of the public were not left out in this deception game. Tonye, who before his foray into politics in 2007 did not have any known means of livelihood while residing in the United Kingdom, was alleged to have used his relationship with the governor to lure a female staff of one of the new generation banks in Port Harcourt to provide him with loans running into hundreds of millions of Naira. Unfortunately for the lady who though is married was a childhood friend of Tonye as they are said to come from the same place. When the bubble burst and she was arrested, she accused Tonye of taking the money from her at various times using his cronies. Though the matter before the police showed that she had used her own cheques to draw the money from other customers' accounts, because of her relationship with the Prince, she failed to ask him for his own cheques to back up her own. According to the lady who prefers anonymity, she had thought that since he started by making efforts to pay back the initial loans granted him, he would continue in the same manner. But being very smart and a sweet-talker, he was able to outsmart her and she landed in jail before she was granted bail. It was said that the governor had frowned at Tonye's role in the whole saga which prompted him to deny his involvement in the fraud which had rocked the bank.

From then on, the governor started shifting away from him and that also did not go down well with Tonye.

In 2011, Tonye and a handful of his supporters decamped to the PDP. He was initially denied membership in his ward in spite of his father being the traditional ruler of his people. But the party was later instructed to accept and register him. Tonye had moved to the PDP when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar decamped from A.C.N. back to PDP. Having been awarded contracts from Atiku's company, INTELS, he had promised to help Atiku deliver delegates from Rivers state. But Tonye was never even a delegate at the convention. Again, Atiku was deceived. Amaechi had been vindicated that Tonye had no strength even in his ward.

As the build-up to the 2015 elections subtly began, Tonye was said to have approached Amaechi for the governorship ticket of the PDP, but the governor was quick to tell him that the choice of who becomes the flag bearer of the party depends on party members while the decision of who becomes the governor would depend on the people of the state. Amaechi asked him to drop his ambition but seek to make it to the Senate, if the party would consider him. But that didn't go down well with Tonye who decided to jump ship to the camp of the President under the guise of supporting a fellow Ijaw man whom he never supported nor voted for. He preferred Atiku in place of Jonathan.

The issue of Wike's governorship ambition has further heightened tension in the state, as most people say it would amount to injustice for Wike, an Ikwerre man like Amaechi to contest as the flag bearer of the PDP.

Tony Okocha said that if there was a deal between Amaechi and Wike, then the governor would have no business fighting against the emergence of another Ikwerre man as governor after him.

Wike had nursed the ambition to become governor when his plan to go to the Senate was aborted by the First Lady who had prevailed on the governor to allow Senator George Sekibo to return to the Senate. Wike who was compensated as a junior Minister for sacrificing his Senatorial ambition saw that as an opportunity to seize the party structure knowing that under Amaechi, it would have been difficult for him to realise his dreams. He moved to the inflame the already frenzied relationship between the governor and the First Lady. He removed G.U.Ake as the Chairman of the party, brought in Obuah through the Courts even when he did not participate in the election that brought Ake. With Amaechi's suspension by the Presidency-influenced PDP for daring to contest and win for a second time the Chairman of Nigeria Governorship Forum; it was a smooth sail for Wike to hijack the PDP structure in the state which he now wants to be the only beneficiary.

There could not have been a deal between Amaechi and Wike apart from the fact that he was advised to stay away from converting money meant for contracts to his personal purse. After Amaechi submitted Wike's name as Minister, the President was said to have accosted Amaechi over some damning security reports which had allegedly portrayed Wike as avaricious. Amaechi had told Jonathan that he should go ahead and appoint him as Minister but he should keep him away from money. This was how Amaechi further secured Wike's appointment but the President was unable to heed to the other side of the governor's advice not to keep him close to money.

Now, Wike seems to have amassed so much wealth unchecked with which he is judiciously using to prosecute his immoral ambition. He has beaten his chest that no one can intimidate him out of the race. Aside the clamour by the leaders of the Ijaw and Ogoni groups, others like Chief E.K.Clark are also against his ambition. But one person who may also help him clinch the ticket outside the First Lady who had publicly endorsed him is the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Adoke Bello, who is very close to Wike. It was Amaechi who helped to bring Bello on board when he urged President Jonathan to sack the former Minister. Amaechi and Bello had been friends and through their relationship, Wike came to know Bello who had also helped Amaechi during the legal battle to reclaim his mandate.