A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and erstwhile Publicity Secretary of the defunct new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has expressed displeasure over actions and comments credited to the Chairman, Senate Joint Committee on Navy, Marine Transport and Finance, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, wherein he called for the arrest of the Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and one of the brightest politicians from Rivers State,  Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside for sending a representative for the agency at the committee’s hearing.

Senator George Sekibo had rejected Mr. Haruna Argungu, a Principal Legal Officer of NIMASA who made appearance for Dr. Dakuku Peterside, the Director General of the agency at the Committee’s hearing, insisting that Peterside must appear in person to answer for the agency, an act Chief Eze dismissed as totally incongruous and unacceptable, stressing that Dr. Peterside reserves the right to mandate an official of the agency to make such representation owing to the fact that all actions incidental to the businesses of the agency are taken collectively and as such, any official can answer and defend the agency in whatever capacity.

Eze said “it is sad and unfortunate that Senator George Sekibbo, a three time Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should allow the local and dirty politics of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State to take a sizeable portion of his sense of reasoning as not to understand that an officer of an Agency can represent his Principal in any inquiry or probe”.

Describing the action as a move to besmirch Dr. Peterside and take the gilt off the gingerbread, Eze said, Haruna’s appearance for the agency is testamentary to the height of prudence and sense of sincerity domiciled within the agency and further reveals participatory democracy in display in the management of NIMASA by Dr. Peterside.

Dismissing claims by Senator Sekibo that Dr. Dakuku Perterisde is on the run, Eze said the NIMASA DG was out of the country, attending an International Maritime Organisation (IMO) conference where he made a case for Nigeria to be voted into the IMO Council Category C.

The Media stalwart challenged Senator Sekibo to channel his energy towards meaningful ventures, such as providing quality representation to his constituents who are impoverished daily by the state government instead of engaging in mere trivialities. He said one would have loved to see a situation where the Rivers-born Senator made a case against the fanfare of squander mania in Rivers state where the state government has left the people in squalor without a hint of remorse.

Chief Eze frowned at Senator Sekibo for attempting to conscript the Nigerian Senate into the politics of smear campaign against public servants of Rivers origin which is the foundation and penchant of the Peoples Democratic Party in the State.

He urged members of the Joint Committee to be weary of being inveigled into a situation in which they find themselves becoming partisan agents of wrongdoers in the pursuit of their selfish private vendetta.

Eze commended Dr. Dakuku Peterside for quickly appearing before the Joint Committee on Navy, Airforce and Marine Transport on his return to Nigeria on Thursday, to clarify the committee on every grey areas notwithstanding his busy schedules. While  lauding the NIMASA DG for adopting a pragmatic approach towards problems management, Chief Eze said Dakuku remains a global brand whose sense of patriotism and national spirit cannot be overemphasized.

Eze highlighted that with the prompt appearance of this Administrator par excellence before the Senate Committee on Navy thereby debunking the erroneous impression that he is on the on the run one expect Senator George Sekibo to publicly apologise to this genius from Rivers State for attempting to rubbish his hard earned credibility and integrity

The party chieftain expressed his felicitations with the NIMASA DG for bagging yet another meritorious award from the Nigerian Chattered Institute of Transport Administrators (CIOTA) upon his return to the country after the International Maritime Organization (IMO) conference, where he made a brilliant representation for Nigeria.

He said men and women of goodwill must not sit back and watch mischief makers ruin the efforts of those who are committed to setting the country on the path of progress.

Eze further appealed to the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Ahmed Lawan to be mindful of PDP Senators like Sekibo, who are much more concerned to doing the biddings of Gov. Wike no matter how inimical such bidding can be on the progress and future of Rivers State and Nigeria at large.

ENDS

Nothing scares a man like the memories of a bad incident.

In his dreams and thoughts, the memories often resurge, throwing him into a dilemma.

Former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji has been in this shoe before.

Having enjoyed some relief by virtue of a no-case submission brought by his lawyer, Wole Olanipekun when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleged him of money laundering years back, Ikuforiji’s nightmare is back again.

The chubby dark-complexioned man is set for another bout of trauma as Justice Mohammed Liman of a Lagos High Court has fixed December 11, for his re-arraignment in a 54-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N600 million.

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has revealed why he dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ize-Iyamu, a former governorship candidate of PDP in Edo State, revealed that he joined the APC to help resolve its crisis and not to escalate it.

The clarification was made during an interactive session with journalists in Benin.

“Sometimes, God uses you in time of crisis to bring peace. So, I just decided that crisis should not deter me. The important thing is that I’m not going to APC to escalate any problem, he said.

“I’m going there by the grace of God to add value, I will go and settle the party, I will go and ensure that the party is well-connected to those at the grassroots, I will encourage governments to do their best, and that itself is one of the primary purposes of being in politics,” he said.

On dumping the PDP for APC, Ize-Iyamu said “I am a football fan. I am a fan of Chelsea. But, these footballers that we die for, might tomorrow choose to go and play for Manchester United, or Arsenal. It might be very painful to us, but they have their reasons.

“It could be that the coach is playing them from the wrong position, they don’t like the new method of the coach. It could also be that they are tired of just being among clubs not relegated, they want to be among the first four. There are many reasons.

“The Constitution gives us the right of association. I have my reasons of moving to the APC. Many of you also know that moving to the party is like a home coming for me, because I’m one of the players who formed that party in this state and in the country, so, it’s not as if I’m going to a new place.

“The place I left, there are some people there who are not happy, and will want to throw things, but I’m not going to throw back. Where I’m also coming to, there are also apprehensive, and because of that too, either directly or indirectly, they are also throwing things. I also will not return things.

“You can see that I’m in a very precarious position. People are throwing things at me and I don’t want to retaliate.

“I believe very much in this state, I was born here, I schooled here and by the grace of God, I’ll be buried here. I am very passionate about this state. That is why I’ve chosen to be part of people that will solve the proof this state and make it more attractive and better for all of us,” Ize-Iyamu said.