The Chairperson of Ijaw Mothers Union and chieftain of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Doris MacDaniels has revealed what
Niger-Deltans demand from the new president-elect Muhammadu Buhari.
In
an interview with Vanguard, she talks about the just concluded
governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State and what it
means to the people.
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| President-elect Muhammadu Buhari |
She said: You
will agree with me that this is the first time we are involving social
media in monitoring and expressing our views in an election in Nigeria. I
have been a grassroots politician for about 25years. The elections held
in the 1990s were conducted in an orderly manner.
We
never had ammunition in my community, Okrika. In the late 90s, we had
communal clashes with a neighboring town and some boys were frantically
looking for a gun to ward off some intruders, they were unable to access
gun easily.
A boy later brought his father’s dane gun. Violence associated
with elections in the state started in 2003 and there after we have been
having Carry Go elections, meaning endorsement for candidates.
The March 28 and April 11 elections are the only ones that have been
competitive and I disagree that they were marred by killings. The
killings we had in the state were more from cult rivalry.
Certainly
there were pockets of violence here and there but it was a similar
thing during the elections in other parts of the country.
Governor Chibuike Amaechi described the elections as a sham, saying it was rigged.
If the April 11 elections did not hold, how come he voted? How would
anyone doubt Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, winning Rivers State ? If
Buhari won Sokoto, Kano, Borno, etc, then there is no way PDP will lose
its stronghold states like Rivers, Delta, Akwa-Ibom.
I was
not supporting Nyesom Wike initially. I had wanted the power rotation
arrangement between the upland and riverine to be effected but we did
our best but our best was not good enough.
When Wike won
the primaries and I knew anybody that got the PDP flag will win the
election, I gave him 100% winning chance. I never thought the
governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr Dakuku
Peterside, will ever win the election because he was Governor Amaechi’s
candidate. Besides, he was forced on his party by the governor. So a lot
of people were not happy.
Some people also have issues
with the governor over his relationship with President Goodluck
Jonathan. Don’t forget that Mr President is an Ijaw man and their are
Ijaw in Rivers.
Apart from the Supreme court judgement
that brought Amaechi to power in his first term, he never won the House
of Assembly election. It was when Dr Peter Odili won his governorship
election that they went to court to get victory for Amaechi so he could
go the House of Assembly.
In
essence Amaechi does not have the strategy to win election. Buhari’s
victory cannot be attributed to Amaechi because it was obvious the
people with Jonathan were working to fail. Even Amaechi re-election was
difficult for him. The First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan pleaded on his
behalf and campaigned for him.
She came to Okrika, specifically, to plead with her people to give him a CARRY-GO.
The April 11 elections were well managed. Elections held but there were
pockets of violence here and there. But nobody can say elections did
not hold.
When asked about her thoughts concerning the recent cry for the cancellation of elections, she said: The
situation in Rivers on April 11 was like the moment of truth. A lot of
lies had been told about Rivers being an APC state but that is a lie .
Jonathan is an Ijaw man from Bayelsa , the riverine people in Rivers are
Ijaw, the First Lady is from Rivers .The loss of Jonathan at the centre
was like mourning for Rivers people. And then the guber election came
up. They were angry that Amaechi was part of the PDP problem.
This was a governor that had neglected his state in pursuit of national
politics; so how was he expecting to project Dakuku for victory? As a
matter of fact, Amaechi presence in APC ruined Dakuku’s chances and APC
getting a better grip in the state. if Amaechi was not involved,a lot of
people may have decamped to APC but nobody wants to be associated with a
governor that was talking the way he was doing. Riverine people don’t
act like that. We have typical Rivers men in the calibre of Mr Odein
Ajumogobia, SAN,l, Atedo Peterside, Fafaa Princewill and so on. We are
very respectful.
Her expectations for the new governor-elect, Nyesom Wike.
The
much I know about Wike is that he is a man of great courage and
determination. He has succeeded in being Obio Akpor local government
Chairman,Chief of Staff to Governor Amaechi and he supported Amaechi to
interpret Amaechi dreams.
The truth is if we have to
have a re-run, Wike will beat Dakuku. You are contending against Wike
who is a master of the game, he has his strategy, his schemings, his
boldness.
With Buhari winning the Presidential elections, Whats the future of Niger-Deltans.
We
opposed Buhari obviously but now he is president-elect. I believe it is
an act of God and no God-fearing person will oppose God’s verdict.
Based on this, I call on my sisters and brothers to render their support
.I think the Niger Deltans want to see how the things will unfold. They
want to see whether they would be respected or disrespected. Niger
Deltans are not troublesome people but they fight injustice. Our brother
did a lot for the North regardless, if Buhari comes with such gestures
of non-tribalistic rulership like Jonathan, then we may witness peace .
The oil producing states must not be treated with disdain like it
happened in the past. There is so much awareness in these communities
and it will not be business as usual, the PIB provisions on oil
producing communities should be adhered to.and these communities must be
treated with utmost care .
