● A Rejoinder by INCRA
The Inter-Ethnic Network For Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (INCRA) has responded to Press Release by the Former Attorney General of Rivers State Barr Wogu Boms, where he accused the Minister of been baised. There press release reads :
"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" - The Holy Bible (Romans 6:1)
"The purity of motive is no substitute for a well-concieved, well-executed sustained action." - Arthur Vanderbilt
We woke up on June 14, 2018, to a long-winded piece credited to Worgu Boms, Esq., former Attorney General of Rivers State (2011-2015). Naturally, we would have believed that he wrote on impulse and did not thoroughly think through his points to check their validness but given his poor outings and witless assertions recently on public domains, we are constrained to believe he expressed those views in the full strength of his faculties.
It is true that Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, CON, Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, has not made any secret about his preference for a Riverine Governor in Rivers State on the basis that power has remained in the upland for almost 20 years and should shift to the Riverine part of the State in the spirit of fairness and equity, it is however, contrary to facts, treacherous and misleading for Boms to assert that Amaechi's preference for a riverine governor is insincere and spurred by personal interest to ensure that his "boy" emerges the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) and possibly the governor of Rivers State.
We patiently read through Boms' epistle to find little or no persuasive points or the indices by which he arrived at his conclusions. Expectedly, he did not fail to disappoint our curiosity. Sadly, Mr. Boms fundamentally hinged his inference on two non-issues to wit, Amaechi's submission to former Governor Peter Odilii's choice of his candidature as governor and the acceptance of his ministerial nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari. And we ask, how did Amaechi go wrong?
1. Firstly, Boms argued that Amaechi turned a blind eye to his professed preference for a riverine governor when former Governor Odili anointed him as his preferred candidate for the governorship in 2007. Perhaps, Boms needs to be reminded that the basis for Amaechi's preference for a riverine governor is that power has remained in the upland part of the state longer than necessary, which includes Sir Odili's eight years and his (Amaechi) eight years as governors, respectively.
Would Boms have expected Amaechi to decline Odili's choice of him as his successor? How would declining have helped the situation when he had no control over what decisions Odili was going to make on the issue? This was seen clearly in Odili's choice of Sir Celestine Omehia another candidate from the upland to replace Amaechi after the 'k-leg saga' ensued.
Again, Boms failed to impress it on his target audience that though, both Odili and Amaechi are from the upland, they are both of different senatorial districts.
Clearly, Amaechi knew and saw what Boms' political shortsightedness denied him from seeing. Amaechi understood the laws of power and knew that it required more than writing long disjointed articles or opinions on the columns of national dailies and senseless agitations laced with ethnic colourations without the requisite understanding of the prevailing political mood and dynamism to change the tide or by opposing the whirlpool of political power without adequate strategy. He knew that to effect change in a system one must first be a part of the system and carefully and rightfully use the instruments of power.
Amaechi's drive for the even-handed rotation of power in Rivers State is most sincere and selfless. However, it was one issue that required utmost tact and political power to enforce. Indeed Amaechi realized that the purity of motive does not foreclose tactical planning and strategies to actualise same motive.
To prove that his call for rotation of power is sincere and borne out of genuine conviction and drive for equity and fairness, upon becoming the Governor of Rivers State, Amaechi ensured that the number two and three citizens (Deputy Governor and Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly) of the State were from the riverine part of the state. Even after the unfortunate demise of Rt. Hon. Tonye Ezekiel Harry in October 2013, he democratically pulled the instruments of power to ensure the emergence of Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Dan Amachree from the same riverine area as a replacement.
But assuming that Boms' assertion that Amaechi turned a blind eye to his preference for a riverine governor when it was his turn to succeed Governor Odili is true, should Amaechi now continue to uphold injustice so that Boms and his co-travellers will be satisfied? This brings us to our opening scriptural reference "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
2. In a most illogical and defective manner, Boms stated that Amaechi was wrong to have accepted his ministerial nomination on the grounds that Governor Nyesom Wike of PDP is from the same tribe as Amaechi. It is puerile and farcical that he expected Amaechi to turn down his ministerial nomination simply because he (Boms) feels it should have been someone from the riverine part of Rivers State, forgetting that the President reserves the right and powers to appoint anyone else without consideration for the riverine/upland dichotomy. Does Boms require schooling on the constitutional provisions of the land over the issue of the appointment of a Minister by the President? Maybe he needs to be reminded that while the President is guided by the constitution to appoint at least one Minister in each State of the Federation, it is entirely his prerogative to decide who to so appoint.
3. Boms lacks the moral standing and clear conscience to advise, suggest or seem to want to suggest to Amaechi, what he should have done rightly or wrongly upon his nomination as Minister by President Muhammadu Buhari, following his antecedence in a similar situation. We are compelled by the foregoing, to recall a similar scenario which occurred between Boms and his biological elder brother, Chima Boms Esq., who at the time served as the lawyer to the Rivers State Government at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), contributed immensely towards the struggle of the Amaechi political family and was in the opinion of many, the right man to be appointed the Attorney General of the State.
But like Jacob swindled his elder brother Esau in the bible to obtain Isaac's blessings, Worgu Boms clandestinely maneuvered and lobbied consistently until he was appointed the Rivers State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice over his elder brother, who had hitherto, added some political value to the system and was more qualified having served as a Special Assistant to Hon. Ken Chikere, the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
We would like Boms to tell us where he hid this moral compass with which he now judges Amaechi. Should he not have declined his appointment then as Commissioner for Justice knowing fully well that he was a political neophyte who had no political base or followership and did not by all standards merit his appointment and that his brother was the most preferred for the job, yet he went ahead to pull all available strings to the loss of his brother? Instead Boms allowed expediency and self-interest to prevail over principle, till date, the effect of his action still haunts his conscience and has ruptured the cordial relationship between him and his brother, Chima Boms Esq.
4. It is the very height of hypocrisy and self deceit that Worgu Boms could turn around to condemn a decision of which he was part and parcel of by virtue of his position as a former Attorney General of Rivers State and the political leader of Port Harcourt Local Government Area under the APC.
Its is unfortunate that Boms has chosen to isolate issues and present only the parts that suit his so called opinion to his unsuspecting readers. Going by the structuring and zoning arrangements of the APC ahead of the 2015 elections of which he was part of, the governorship was zoned to the riverine area whereas in Rivers East the senatorial ticket was zoned to the upland considering the fact that the occupant of the seat at the time, Senator George Thompson Sekibo of the PDP was from the riverine area and had occupied the seat for over eight years.
Sadly, the APC lost the governorship and majority of other positions to the PDP. If it approached the election tribunals and recovered some of the positions, would Boms in his right senses expect that those who won their tribunal cases should have relinquished their victories because it no longer satisfied the earlier arrangements and balancing of positions and power as a result of others who lost their cases?
Without doubts, Worgu Boms' claim that the only Senator from the reverine area, George Thompson Sekibo of the PDP was removed by unrelenting litigation in the election tribunal funded and supported by Amaechi is misleading and calls to question his loyalty and commitment towards the progress of the APC.
Need we also remind Worgu Boms that it was Amaechi's insistence on power rotation to the Riverine area against the ambition of his Chief of Staff, Wike now governor, to succeed him that set the stage for what has become a lasting political tussle in the state. This singular decision by Amaechi to do what was right and just almost consumed him politically, as those who opposed his decision teamed up with federal forces to undo and humiliate him.
In conclusion, indeed, the time tested adage, "When a man points a finger at another, he should beware that four other fingers are pointing back at him", has proven that Mr. Boms lacks the moral ground to accuse Amaechi and is estopped to express a view on the subject matter by the singular fact that he failed to uphold the same view he now canvases when he was in a similar situation.
It is important to inform the reader that shortly after Amaechi was appointed a Minister by President Buhari, to prove his genuineness towards giving his riverine brothers a fair opportunity, Amaechi influenced the appointment of four riverine sons and daughter of Rivers State as heads of major government agencies in the country: Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside was appointed Director General of Nigerian Maritime Admnistaration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Hon. Mrs. Ibim Semenitari was appointed Acting Managing Directod of NDDC; Dr. Sokonte Davies was appointed Executive Director Marine Operations, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), while Mr. Iboroma Akpana was appointed the Rivers State Representative in Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Perhaps, for Worgu Boms, these gestures are not sincere enough until Amaechi resigns his position as Minister for someone from the Riverine area. This line of thought is at best, myopic, irrational and borne out of his brewing odium towards Amaechi.
For us, Boms should never be taken seriously. A man who served as Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for four years without any known political aide and is completely not in touch with his people is clearly not abreast with the political demands of the time, hence unfit to make any meaningful political diagnosis or prognosis.
Clearly, Worgu Boms' calculated attempt to impugn on the character and integrity of Amaechi as a detribalized and selfless statesman, lacks substance and convincing power to persuade his readers. It is an obvious manifestation of cognitive parallax and grievously lacking in common sense.
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