14th September, 2010
The people of Okrika, in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State have condemned the statement credited to the Chairman of the Okrika Divisional Council of Chiefs, Senator Tari Sekibo, alleging that Governor Chibuike Amaechi was working against the corporate interest of Okrika people.
They said the comments were untrue, malicious and misleading.
Speaking through their elected representatives at the grassroots, the Okrika Legislative Council on Tuesday, the people said that contrary to the misleading position canvassed by Chief Sekibo and his cohorts, Governor Amaechi has brought unprecedented dividends of Democracy to the people in all wards of the Local Government Area.
The Councillor representing Ward Six in the Legislative Assembly Hon. Godswill Josaiah in his lead presentation, said the Amaechi-led administration has done more for the Okrika people than any political dispensation in the state.
He cited the fact that the Governor Amaechi-led government sited the only craft centre built in the state in Okrika, as an indication of the governor’s love for his people, emphasizing that “it was unfair for people who have not contributed anything to the development of Okrika to ridicule the good intentions of Governor Amaechi for the people.”
He noted: “The Rivers State Government has done so much for the Okrikans,†quoting the wife of the President, Dame Patience Jonathan to have equally accepted the fact, and insisting that it was morally wrong for Sekibo and some chiefs to compromise their revered status by speaking from both sides of the mouth when the truth is there for all to see.
“Yes, the Okrikans are happy to have the First Lady of Nigeria as our daughter, but we should use her to attract development to the state and Okrika in particular. We should not use her name to sow seeds of discord in the state,” he cautioned.
In his submission, the Deputy Leader of the Legislative Assembly, Hon. Anaye Batubo, called on the people of Okrika to embrace the positive development strides of the Amaechi administration rather than tell lies.
He described Governor Amaechi’s numerous projects as unprecedented in the area, pointing out that the governor has in many ways demonstrated that he is a true friend of the Okrikans, and urged the people to support him and his government to deliver good governance to the state.
In their separate contributions, Hon. Fiabebia Raymond (Ward 10), Levi Joseph (Ward 1) and Tamuno George (Ward 9) cautioned against what they described as a deliberate ploy by some persons to torpedo the good intention of the Amaechi-led administration for the people of Okrika, and enjoined the Okrika Legislative Assembly to stand up and be counted as a Legislature of forthright men and women.
In his ruling, the leader of the Okrika Legislative Assembly, Hon. Wisdom Ogan, cautioned against inciting remarks that will plunge Okrika into another round of crisis.
He described Okrika as a land where people associate with progress, and warned those trying to incite the peope against the state government to desist forthwith as “Council will not fold its arms to watch few individuals stir up the people to disturb the peace that the people of Okrika are enjoying now.â€
The leader, on the recommendations of members of the Legislative Assembly, therefore passed a vote of confidence on Governor Amaechi and all his development programmes in the state.
By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
