A fresh light has been cast on the dark intrigues and
succession crisis that trailed the choice of Mr.Celestine Omehia as the
PDP governorship candidate in Rivers State in the 2007 election to take
over from Dr. Peter Odili.
Omehia went on to win
the election only for the Supreme Court to upturn his emergence, and
declared Mr. Rotimi Amaechi as the rightful candidate of the party and
winner of the election.
In a new
autobiography, ‘Conscience and History – My Story’, Dr. Odili said he
had already settled for Mr. Amaechi to succeed him until loyalists of
the then President Olusegun Obasanjo raised hell and insisted that he
must replace Amaechi.
He bowed to the pressure leading to the emergence of Omehia.
The development soon caused a break down in the years of friendship
between him and Amaechi who had served as the Speaker of the Rivers
State House of Assembly for the eight years of Odili‘s tenure as
governor.
In the freshly released book which sole purpose seems to be to
correct the unsavory public impression and perceptions about the
author’s reign as governor, the author also explains how the then
President Obasanjo did not forgive him for supporting the groundswell of
opposition against his (Obasanjo’s) bid to tinker with the 1999
constitution in order to serve a third term in office.
The 511-page amorphous compendium of Odili’s life, school years,
Biafran war odyssey and his days in office as governor of Rivers State
is signposted by the intrigues that was the December 16, 2006
Presidential Primary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and how Odili,
who was supposedly the clear front runner, was shooed off the race by a
“so-called” ‘EFCC interim report’ which ostensibly incriminated him.
In chapter G of the book under the title, THE PLOT – THE GREAT GANG
UP, Odili says: “with the failure of the constitutional amendments which
included tenure elongation, campaigns for the presidency in 2007 took
off about the 3rd quarter of 2006, across the country.
By October/November my campaign, led by Dr Raymond Dokpesi had
penetrated every state in the federation and it became obvious that the
Odili candidacy had attained national acceptance and had become a
movement. Odili was seen as the front runner, the candidate to beat.
Traditional rulers, emirs, tribal leaders, labour unions, stakeholders,
etc had embraced and were favourably disposed to Odili. For some
inexplicable reason, the plot to stop him, by some people, became
pathologically ‘urgent’. The PDP convention for the nomination of the
Presidential Candidate was slated for 16th December, 2006.
“The commissioning of the Omoku Power plant of 150 mega Watts and
120km double circuit Transmission line to Port Harcourt by President
Olusegun Obasanjo, took place on 5th December, 2006… We were lauded very
generously and extolled for the unprecedented feat.
“Exactly one week later, 12th December, a spurious and anonymous
petition was posted in the internet from a questionable ‘source’
alleging CORRUPT practices against the Rivers State Government under me.
These allegations were converted into a petition by the EFCC (Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission) under Nuhu Ribadu’s hand, to the
President same day. On the 13th of December, 2006 Mr President directed
EFCC to investigate. On 14th day of December, 2006, EFCC submitted a
so-called “interim report” to the then President who promptly minuted
for my response on the same 14 December, 2006 but forwarded to me on
15/12/2006, a day to convention vide ref. PRES/44. I assembled what was
left of my cabinet team, a few having been arrested and kept at the EFCC
in Lagos within these few days of urgent dramatic action. We submitted
our response on the 15th day of December, 2006 by which time it had
become clear what the whole exercise was about – “Get Odili out of the
race for the Presidency, at all cost.”
More controversial however, is Odili’s revelation on page 444 of the
book that Malam Nuhu Ribadu had long confessed to Odili’s innocence and
to the spuriousness of this ‘interim report’ deployed to nail Odili. For
instance, at a venue in Maitama Abuja, Ribadu ostensibly, “denied
authorship of the so-called ‘EFCC interim report’ of 2006 December which
he signed”
Apart from enumerating and showcasing the achievements of his
administration, “Conscience and History” is a repository of the about
half a dozen court processes the author went through to win his
controversial perpetual injunction against his investigation and trial
by the EFCC. His argument is that the constitution empowers only the
States House of Assembly and the state’s auditor-general to carry out
such functions in the federation. Both the state and the federal high
courts upheld his position. All the arguments, submissions and
judgments, in the minutest details are contained in the book.
The book does not shy from highlighting the musketeers who stood to
the last minute to ensure that not only did Odili not get the
presidential ticket, his name was edited from the already prepared
speech of the nominee, Umaru Yar’Adua which was to declare Odili vice
presidential nominee. These men of steel gloves are Chief James Ibori,
Chief Lucky Igbinedion and Dr. Bukola Saraki who were his fellow
governors at that time. The others are Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mallam Nuhu
Ribadu and Nasir El-Rufai. Conscience and History is a book poised to
set the tone of political discourse in Nigeria in the New Year.
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