One governor, 2 speakers, 3 maces

CHRIS ANUCHA, Port Harcourt
With one governor, two House of Assembly speakers and three maces all contending for supremacy, the political crisis which erupted in Rivers State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) few months back, is degenerating and fast turning the once serene Garden city into a theatre of absurdities.
The intra -party power struggle has claimed some casualties and more are still being expected. Recall that the former state chairman of the party, Chief G.U. Ake, was sacked by Abuja based Court, presided over by Justice Ishaq Bello, on Monday, April 15, 2013.
The Judge, in the case, instituted by Chief Felix Obuah, had affirmed that he (Obuah) and his state exco, were the authentic and duly elected executives of PDP in Rivers state. The crisis also saw the Chairman of the most viable local government area in the state, Obio/Akpor, Chief Timothy Nsirim, and his councillors,   suspended by the State Assembly over alleged financial impropriety.
A Caretaker Committee was constituted, under the chairmanship of Chikaodi Dike. But on Friday, May 3, 2013,  the state police commissioner, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, acting on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed  Abubakar, also gave order to policemen, who stormed Obio/Akpor LGA Secretariat at Rumuodomaya, sacked the Caretaker Committee chairman and his team.
After the sack of the Caretaker Committee, Nigeria police  became the landlord and occupied the Secretariat till date. The crisis etched further with the suspension of five anti-Amaechi lawmakers: Hon Evans Bapakaye Bipi, Ogu/Bolo Constituency; Hon Victor Ihunwo, Phalga III; Hon Martins Amaewhule, Obio/Akpor I; Hon Michael Chinda, Obio/Akpor II;  and  Hon. Kelechi Nwogu, Omuma Constituency, by  the 27 pro- Amaechi lawmakers. This was closely followed with the suspension of the 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers, and  later, Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi,  by the Felix Obuah-led state exco.
The political crisis wrongly or rightly, is being  caused by Amaechi’s rumoured vice presidential ambition in 2015. The state is, literally,  at a stand still putting major achievements of the state government under threat. It is not in dispute that one of Governor Amaechi’s successes is the restoration of security in the state which was once under the siege of armed militants and cultists. His government has spent so much on security and the results have been rewarding. But the crisis has threatened the peace enjoyed by the citizens of the state, especially, after the militants surrendered their arms and accepted  the amnesty, granted them by the federal government.
As things are today, the ‘ bad boys’ are emerging from the blues, waiting for whoever would hire them to do odd jobs, even for  a peanut. The crisis in the state has, no doubt, provided the platform for the ‘boys’ to come out boldly, to foment trouble. Some of them were even hired to stage the recent anti-Amaechi protest in Port Harcourt.
The involvement of the ex-militants became glaring on Tuesday, July 9, 2013, when the five anti-Amaechi lawmakers forced themselves into the chambers of the State Assembly, with the aim of impeaching the Speaker, Rt Hon. Otelemaba D. Amachree. Amnesty identity card was even found on one of them arrested by the police. Not a few Rivers indigenes are  now lamenting that politicians are taking them back to the dark days of the militancy. On Tuesday also, when the anti-Amaechi legislators gained  access  into the  Assembly chambers, they ‘appointed’ Evans Bipi, instead of election by the majority votes, as the new Speaker of the House.
Among others, Bipi quickly announced the suspension of 15 out of the 27 pro-Amaechi lawmakers. What played out in Rivers House of Assembly, where five suspended members of the House could “impeach” a Speaker, calls  to question, the place of the Nigerian constitution  in the impeachment of elected  political office holders. At least, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria  stipulates how those occupying elected positions in the country  could be removed from office. Beside the oddity of five lawmakers trying to remove the Assembly speaker backed by 27 members, the Rivers State crisis has also produced three maces in the state Assembly. There is confusion now, too, as to who is in possession of the original,  authentic  or the real   mace, which is the symbol of authority in the House.
Some people have argued that the mace, used by Bipi group is fake. Others  are of the view that the  one used by Chidi Lloyd, to smash the head of the Honourable Michael Chinda, representing Obio/Akpor Constituency, II,  is fake. Still, some people  are  claiming that the original Mace was retrieved and secured by Governor Chibuike Amaechi, when he stormed the Assembly Complex  with his security details, at the heat of the brouhaha.
In the claim of Hon Evans Bipi and the leadership of  Rivers PDP, it also means that the Rivers House of Assembly  now has two Speakers, a fake and original one.  Efforts are said to be ongoing to determine who is actually in possession of the original mace as three maces are now in circulation in the state.
What has also become worrisome is the role of the police in the whole saga. The police that are supposed to be neutral, apolitical and fair to all, seem to be taking sides. The role of the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu remains glaringly suspect.
Though, he had come out to deny that he was taking directives from Abuja, to destabilize Amaechi’s  government, what  he and his officers are doing however point to the contrary. It is on record that the Police Commissioner organized or allowed  politicians to organize  a rally in his support in Port Harcourt, after Amaechi’s  supporters staged a rally against his partisanship in the crisis.
Another anomie in the crisis is the open involvement policemen who take  part in the fight among politicians. They joined the politicians they are attached to,  to engage in fisticuffs with their opponents. At the State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, one policeman threatened to shoot his colleague, if he continued to challenge the politician he is attached to. The Police Commissioner shocked many, when he claimed that the 27 lawmakers reconvened  on Tuesday for the purpose of passing resolution for his redeployment. This is no less a political  statement. Is Mbu really a political police officer, as he is being accused of?
One also wonders, why the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, a central figure in the crisis threatened to embark on peaceful protest, if the IG goes ahead to redeploy the Rivers state CP. As things are, the macabre dance continues and only time will tell how it will end.