The hijack of key political positions by powerful politicians from Obio/Akpor Local Government block creates tension in Rivers State as other ethnic nationalities accuse Nyesom Wike and his allies of monopolizing power and dominating the state’s politics space
By Chinedu Oguh, Port Harcourt
Rivers State one of the nation’s most popular states is made of 23 local Government Areas, three Senatorial Districts and diverse ethnic nationalities including Ikwerre, Ogoni, Kalabari, Ibani, Ogba, Ekpeye, Etche, Abual Odual, Andoni, Okrika, Oyigbo and Engenni, among others.
But a cursory look at the political organogram of the state between 2023 and 2026, presents a different reality. River State now appears to be Obio/Akpor State with 22 appendages.
Considering the political distribution, the immediate past governor and now Minister for Federal Capital Territory, Chief (Barr) Nyesom Wike hails from Obio/Akpor. Likewise, Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Martin Chike Amaewhule, hails from Eliozu town in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
The ambassadorial slot for Rivers State was also given to an Obio/Akpor indigene, in the person of Chief O. C. J. Okocha, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), former National President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Rivers State hails from Eliozu town, currently he is Nigeria’s ambassador to Ireland.
The senior sister, Hon. Justice Daisy Okocha, was the first female Chief Judge of Rivers State. She was appointed by Wike when he was the governor. She has since retired.
The Rivers State slot for Federal Court of Appeal was also given to Obio/Akpor in the person of Hon. Justice Eberechi Suzzeth Wike, the beloved wife of the Minister of FCT.
The All Progressive Congress APC, State Chairman and his counter-part at Peoples Democratic Party, PDP are all occupied by the Obio/Akpor sons in the persons of Chief Tony Okocha and Chief Aaron Chukwuemeka. Chief Tony Okocha too is the representative of Rivers State in the Board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The APC governorship candidate, the preferred candidate of the minister, Hon. O. K. Chinda is also from Obio/Akpor, Elelewon town. He is serving his term at the National Assembly at the Green chamber or lower House. The lawyer turned politician was once Commissioner for Environment in Rivers State and former Minority leader in the House of Representatives.
The question political watchers in the state is asking, “where then is the place of Abua/Odual, Ahoada-East, Ahoada-west, Akuku-Toru, Andoni, Asari-Toru, Bonny, Degema, Eleme, Emohua, Etche, Gokana, Ikwerre, Khana, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Ogu/Bolo, Okrika, Omuma, Opobo/Nkoro, Oyigbo, Port Harcourt and Tai?”
The contradiction of “Eye Ndeba Eyen Ndeba” said Njekwe Onyemae: “Eyen Ndeba Eyen Ndeba” according to him, brother sees brother, it was was a beautiful political philosophy of Rivers brotherhood, of protecting their own, of standing together against external aggression.
But today he further added, it has been weaponized into an ideology of exclusion. It now means: brother sees only brother from Obio/Akpor. It means other brothers from Ikwerre LGA, Emohua, Port Harcourt, Ogoni and Rivers areas are no longer brother enough.
Obinna Daniel, a stakeholder in the state who is not comfortable with the death of equity in Rivers State lamented that Abua/Odual, one of the oldest and distinct tribe in Rivers State with enormous oil and gas contributions, with two major blocks – Abua and Odual- yet completely absent from this power table. A tribe that produces wealth for the nation is reduced to a spectator.
The hypocrisy becomes glaring said Obinna when you place it against national politics. The same political class that shouts about zoning fairness and rotation for Presidency between North and South finds nothing wrong with concentrating Minister, Speaker, NDDC Rep, Ambassador, Party Chairman and the leading governorship candidate for 2027 in one Local Government Area “Is equity only for Abuja and not for Rivers State?, Daniel asked.
The impression this creates in the other 22 local Government areas is dangerous and political alienating, the people of Abua/Odual, Ogoni, Kalabari, Etche, Andoni begins to see themselves as spectators in a state they co-own.
Again, another social critic, Paul Obe said this kind of situation brings death of merit and spread: “It kills the principle of spread as enshrined in the federal character spirit. A child in Oyigbo is told that no matter how qualified he is, the slot belongs to Obio/Akpor,” said Obe.
He went further to add that democracy thrives on a sense of belonging. When one local government becomes the Alpha and Omega, it breeds the kind of resentment that led to the current open war between political godfather and godson and between the Assembly and the Executive.
Again, Njekwe Onyemae agreed that Obio/Akpor’s voting strength is not in doubt. It is the largest LGA in Rivers. But voting strength is not an excuse for political monopoly, he explains that Kano has Kano Municipal, Lagos has Alimosho, yet they do not lock down every major position in one local government.
Meanwhile the President of the Ogoni Business Owners Association in America, Chief Anthony Waadah, has called on Ogoni people and Rivers residents to rally behind the governorship aspiration of Dr. Gabriel Pidomson of the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC), insisting that the time has come for an Ogoni son to occupy the Brick House.
He lamented that despite the contributions of the Ogoni ethnic nationality to the development of Rivers and Nigeria, Ogoni people have remained entirely excluded from the highest political offices in the state since its creation more than five decades ago.
“For over 50 years, no Ogoni person has occupied the office of Governor, Deputy Governor, Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly or Chief Judge of Rivers State. This raises serious concerns about fairness, equity and inclusion in a state that prides itself on diversity” Waadah stated.
He also criticised what he described as state capture by the Minister, arguing that political process should provide room for broader representation across the various parts of Rivers State.
“And history has shown, no system built on such naked inequity, where a distinct tribe like Ogoni is forgotten last,” Waadah said.
