The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, will, on 7th October, 2022, officially sign an instrument to strip Sir Celestine Omehia, a former Governor of Rivers State, of all recognitions and privileges he has been receiving based on his former status.
Based on the resolution by the House of Assembly on Thursday, Wike will, also, officially strip Omehia of the State honour, Grand Service Star of Rivers State, GSSRS, an honour reserved for former Governors which Wike had bestowed on him.
In so doing, the Governor has endorsed, fully, the resolution of the Assembly which, also, asked Omehia to return the sum of N600m he earned as a Governor, and over N96.5m which he had earned in pensions.
The State House of Assembly on Thursday, passed the resolution which stripped Omehia of all such privileges and entitlements.
The Assembly said it took that decision because Omehia’s tenure as a Governor was aborted by a Supreme Court Ruling which declared Chibuike Amaechi Governor.
Amaechi did not take part in the election because President Olusegun Obasanjo, as the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, then, inexplicably disqualified Amaechi from running after he had won the Governorship Primary. Omehia was chosen to run in Amaechi’s place, and won the election. But in an unbelievable ruling, the Supreme Court removed Omehia and declared Amaechi Governor.
For the eight years Amaechi was Governor, he ignored Omehia. But in 2015 when Wike became Governor, the then House of Assembly restored all Omehia’s privileges and entitlements as a former Governor.
The stripping of Omehia of the entitlements, this magazine gathered, is a consequence of his relationship with the Presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, a man who Wike has been at loggerheads with since the Presidential Primary. Any PDP politician in Rivers State who has a good relationship with Atiku, automatically, becomes Wike’s political enemy.
A statement issued on Thursday by Governor Wike’s Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, said the Governor will, on Thursday, sign the instrument to affirm the cancellation of all entitlements and privileges due to Omehia as a former Governor.
The statement reads: “His Excellency, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the Executive Governor of Rivers State, is to sign the instrument on cancellation of the recognized of Sir Celestine Omehia as a former Governor of Rivers State.
“The cancellation of the recognition is sequel to the resolution of the Rivers State House of Assembly adopted on Thursday on Thursday, 6th October, 2022, to derecognise Sir Celestine Omehia as a former Governor of the State.”
Noted an elder statesman: “This is a political witch hunt taken too far. Wike should leave something for tomorrow. No condition is permanent. He will not be a Governor forever.”
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