The history of elections in Rivers State often troubles the minds and hurts the hearts. It’s not for nothing. “Power is where power goes”, Lyndon Johnson once explained to a friend who was counselling him to reject John F. Kennedy’s offer of the Vice Presidency ticket to him. Truly, power is often what propels many politicians to do what they do. For years, and in particular, in recent years, Rivers state has become the hotbed of election violence and other malfeasance in Nigeria and a cemetery of some sort as well. Like in previous elections, Rivers state was in the eye of the storm in the just concluded general elections.
Despite the fact that the All Progressives Congress (APC) was excluded from taking part in the National Assembly and State Legislative elections in the state, by the Supreme Court, no thanks to the crisis in the state primaries, what happened in Rivers state was unlike what we had seen anywhere in the country in recent memory, a desperate situation that prompted the Independent National Electoral Commission to suspend the collation and announcement of results in many areas of the state. While the people waited, Rivers state was on knife-edge. However, that exercise was completed last week, and the incumbent governor, Nyesome Wike was declared reelected with overwhelming 886,264 votes. He defeated an unknown quantity, Mr. Biokpomabo Awara, of the African Action Congress (AAC) who managed 173,856 votes. Awara’s loss was also seen as APC’s big lose in the state. Beyond that, it’s also interpreted as the anguish and perhaps the collapse of self-esteem of former governor of the state and current Minister of Transportation, Chief Chibuike Amaechi.
Although neither Amaechi’s name nor the APC was on the ballot in the governorship poll in Rivers state on March 9, any keen political observer knew it was a battle of might and power between him and Wike, two former bosom friends, now sworn political enemies. Who says our politics is not a fun to follow. Was it Wike’s fault that APC in Rivers State shot itself in the foot and got a “decent burial” by the Supreme Court of Nigeria in its judgment of February 12,2019?. The anger and bitterness of that epic judgment that excluded APC from participating in the elections, except the presidential poll of February 23, are far from over. Perhaps, it has opened a new twist, a more troubling dimension, to the power struggle in Rivers state politics. Keep in mind, Johnson’s famous quote that ‘power is where power goes’.
If, indeed, the reality and scale of power, are defined by the extent to which it influences or dominates behaviour and conditions external to the men in the commanding heights of authority, then, don’t dismiss or ignore any alleged plot as the next game plan in Rivers state. Again, the PDP is crying wolf. On Sunday, the party accused the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Minister of Transportation, Chief Chibuike Amaechi, of plot to annul the Rivers state election by instigating a Constitutional crisis in the state. According to the national publicity secretary of PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiya, some leaders of the ruling APC, in cahoot with the Minister of Transportation, are allegedly working with the AGF and Minister of Justice to mount pressure on the Supreme Court, through the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Mohammed, to revisit its judgment on Rivers’ APC nomination crisis.
The PDP alleges that the plot is to nullify the governorship, national and state House of Assembly elections, and possibly pave way for new poll, which the APC will be allowed to take part. According to Ologbondiya, the leader of APC in the state has been “going around the state, boasting that the Supreme Court will reverse itself on the Rivers state APC primary crisis. The PDP calls the plot a “conspiracy to annul the will of Rivers people”, which it said, must be resisted.
It should be noted that the suit in the APC Rivers state crisis is still before the Supreme court, though the apex Court had on February 12, upheld the judgment of the lower court in Port Harcourt, which excluded the APC from participating in the recent general elections having nullified the party’s primary election. It was on the basis of the Supreme Court verdict that INEC on February 23,2019, excluded the APC from the ballot, except in the Presidential poll. The PDP claims the plot is based on “information” available to it. It, however, didn’t disclose the source of the information. The APC has however debunked the allegation by the PDP.
There are many questions that arise from the PDP allegation. Can the Supreme Court reverse itself on the Rivers’ APC crisis that could pave way for fresh election which will open the door for APC to participate? Yes, there are decided cases in which the Supreme Court had reversed itself. But, such cases are few, and I think, in this instant case, the door is permanently shut against the “resurrection” of APC in Rivers state to give it lifeblood to participate in any election in this season. The only window of opportunity for APC in this instant case is if the Election Petitions Tribunal nullifies all the elections conducted by INEC in Rivers state on February 23,and March 9,2019.
Even though some people believe our judiciary has been compromised, I take the allegation by PDP with a pinch of salt. It’s not impossible, but I don’t think the Acting CJN will want to be remembered that he started on such a farcical note of shame and vulnerability. I am also aware that APC, and, in particular, Amaechi, feels so bitter and their hearts so hurt like acid, by losing every battle waged against Wike since 2015, it’s their mistakes and missteps. Those who know Wike and Amaechi, will tell you that the former keeps winning and the latter keeps losing because Wike knows Amaechi’s ‘secret’, whatever that means. For me, it is simply because, Wike treats politics as both science and art. While Wike sees power as never given, it is only taken when you perform to the satisfaction of the people; Amaechi sees power as the outcome of raw power, maybe, money as well. Truly, money is the lifeblood of politics, and no politician can go far without it, irrespective of intelligence and talent. But, it does not shape any ennobling vision beyond self.
Also, don’t forget the statement attributed to former national Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie Oyegun in early 2016 when he said that the party had always felt so pained not winning any of the four large oil bearing states, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers state. And losing Rivers state perhaps remains the deepest cut of all, Oyegun noted. While my advice to APC is to put its house in order, and look at the many headwinds that have caused it the big prize in Rivers state, Wike should not take his eyes off the ball. Trust and good performance are his unique selling points to Rivers electorate. That, among other personal qualities, are what got him elected for a second, tenure, despite formidable obstacles.
That’s why Wike is always winning and his political opponents are always whining. Performance is what sustains every politician vying for public office. Raw power won’t do it. That’s what APC leaders in the state may have found out the hard way. But it is a lesson they must learn fast if the party can change its run of bad fortune before the next general elections.
President Muhammadu Buhari should resist any pressure to make Rivers state what the enemies of the state want him to do. The essence of presidential leadership is the ability to appeal publicly to large and widely different constituencies, whether the state is governed by the President’s party or the opposition party.