Having realized his dream to govern the people of Rivers State, South-South Nigeria in 2007 through the judiciary that sacked Sir Celestine Omehia for not been the legitimate candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but ruled that the post should go to Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who won the party's primaries, but was dropped on the eve of voting because of graft allegations. This magazine can reveal that Amaechi, Sekibo and Omehia have renew hostilities the current term of political office holders draw to a close, voters in Rivers State are ecstatic to cast their votes in the forthcoming governorship election; it is either the incumbent governor, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi wins and remains in power, or Dr. Abiye Sekibo, one time Minister Of Transport takes over from him or Sir Celestine Omehia, who served as the Honourable Commissioner for Education in the state between February 1992 and November 1993, before was declared the winner of the Rivers State gubernatorial election of 2007, held on 14 April, 2007, taking over from Dr. Peter Odili before the court sacked him. Amaechi and Omehia are cousins from Ikwerre, and Sekibo, an Ijaw from Okrika. They have been on the political spotlight since the country returned to democratic governance in 1999, and have loyalists across the state.
But as things is right now, it looks clearly that Omehia has little or nothing to offer in dislodging Amaechi, but after his withdrawal from governorship race under the platform of the PDP and expressed lack of confidence the delegates for the primaries in Rivers State, he quickly termed up with Sekibo in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) where he had hoped to realized his ambition, a source revealed to this magazine that since Celestine Omehia declared his intention to contest for the Brick House which he was the landlord for five months against his blood cousin under the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), some of his loyalists have concluded plans to abandons him, knowing fully well that the party is not on ground throughout the South-South. This magazine scooped from a dependable source from Omehia camp that he joined APGA in frustration because of Abiye Sekibo whom they said breached the agreement reached between Omehia and the later. According to the source, the duo's initial agreement was that they would endorse Omehia for the race under the platform of ACN, but to the chagrin of Omehia and other supporters, Dr. Sekibo smartly hijacked the ACN and incidentally declared himself the party's gubernatorial candidate for 2011 elections. With this, the real battle could easily be said to be between Amaechi and Sekibo. This two both know each other very well, and are very conscious of the hard work that goes with the office they both crave for, that observers have predicted a very keen contest that would force an unprecedented battle by politicians in the state to decide who eventually win.
THE GIST PLUS have it that while some analysts have predicted an outright victory for Amaechi, who currently controls the state’s politics as the leader of the PDP in the state, and whose men have put up a very impressive showing at the recently concluded primaries for state and National Assembly positions; some, however, say Sekibo as a formidable opponent will give Amaechi a good run for his money. To them, writing off Sekibo, who in a message to Rivers people, said: “We have a huge task ahead to take the broom revolution from door to door to every nook and cranny of Rivers State,” could be detrimental for the governor. They stress that victory could go to the governor or the former minister at the polls. In the countdown to the election, a source averred that a campaign organisations of one of the candidates, has finalised plans for a full media assault against the other candidate as part of the strategy to emerge victorious at the polls. The source added that the move is a strategy to provoke the other camp, in order to create the kind of media war via paid advertorials embarked by the campaign organisations of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar before the Abuja presidential primaries of the PDP. This has just manifested last week when the CAN governorship standard bearer in the forthcoming April 2011 elections in Rivers State, accused the governor of running a government of cultists, though he failed to mention any of the names. Another was few days back which have made people saying Sekibo might have shot himself in the foot by his misguided outbursts whilst fielding questions on a popular radio call-in programme (View Point) on Rhythm 93.7FM on Saturday 5th February, 2011 in Port Harcurt. It was observed that for the major part of the programme meant to be a platform for him to intimate the listeners with his intended blueprint for governing the state, Sekibo unleashed a tirade against Governor Amaechi-led administration in Rivers state, stating that the government has recklessly spent about N1 trillion without any commendable project to show for it. His constant comparing with Dr. Odili’s administration, especially between the years 1999-2003, when he held sway as Secretary to the State Government is evident of a carefully orchestrated plan to rubbish the laudable achievements recorded in the three years of the present government. In addition, Sekibo systematically attempted to cast aspersions on the governor’s personality, accusing him of being arrogant and exhibiting wanton disregard for traditional institutions in the state to instigate the people against the governor and his administration.
The source, which is close to one of the candidates said: “Those who think that there will not be smear campaigns have underrated the political rivalry that has existed between the duos. The situation on ground is almost beyond politics, because it is a pure contest between two top politicians, who have the resources to put up impressive outing, and who know each other very well. But one of the camps has finalised plans to set the ball rolling and kick-start the real campaign.” It would be recalled that Amaechi and Sekibo played key roles in the administration of Dr. Peter Odili. While Amaechi was the Speaker of the Rivers Assembly for eight years, Sekibo first served as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), before he served as a minister under former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Since Amaechi beat three other aspirants to clinch the ticket of the PDP at the Sharks Township Stadium recently, Sekibo on his own defeated the only opponent, Dr. Itekena Micheal Abel-Tariah, an international businessman to secure the Action ACN ticket, the political atmosphere is somewhat enlivened. Observers say that Amaechi, who knows very well that there is a serious battle ahead, has personally apologised “to those who might have been hurt during the primaries”. He has also urged them to work for the party in the interest of all and sundry. His words: “The interest of the party supersedes my interest, and the private interest of individuals. I must apologise to those who are hurt, and reassure them that it is a learning process. As we observe mistakes, they will be corrected in subsequent primaries”. With these, Amaechi’s battle has just begun, and many political watchers in the oil rich state, are patiently waiting to see how Sekibo or Omehia will be able to dislodge Amaechi out of the Brick House in Port Harcourt.
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