BREAKING NEWS
PRINCE TONYE PRINCEWILL ENDS
SEVERAL WEEKS OF SPECULATION
WITH HIS FORMAL RESIGNATION
FROM ACTION CONGRESS
Prince
Tonye T.J.T Princewill the
Rivers State AC leader on
Wednesday in Port Harcourt
ended weeks of speculation
regarding his political
future with the formal
resignation of his
membership from the Action
Congress Party.
According to him this
decision was a result of
series of consultations with
friends, family, associates
and party members to
determine the next step to
take in the light of the
current realities
in the Nation’s polity. It
would be recalled that at
the onset of the
consultations, Princewill
had himself said that he was
exploring the options of
resignation, remaining with
the AC, joining another
political party or quitting
politics in its entirety. He
announced his decision via a letter
of resignation he
submitted to
the AC Chairman of Ward 3,
Asari-Toru Local
Government Council,
Hon.
David Long John. In
it, the Prince stated that
“after several years of
membership in this great
party, it is with a heavy
heart that I tender
my formal resignation to
take place with immediate
effect. My resignation
entails that I am leaving
behind friends, many with
whom I shared sincerity of
purpose. I remain grateful
to the party for giving me
the opportunity to serve and
work for the greater good of
the state and our democracy.
I wish you all well in your
future endeavours” He
expressed heartfelt
gratitude to certain
individuals for the various
roles they played at
different times. They
included his ‘uncle’, mentor
and leader, Chief Bola
Tinubu whom
he recalled supported him
“when it mattered most” and
gave him the strength to see
it through. He also thanked
Chief Tom Ikimi the South -
South leader for the role he
played in ensuring that the
state chapter was not
hijacked by disgruntled
elements who meant no well.
Prince Austin Eweka the
South - South Vice
Chairman of
AC was also singled out for
his political astuteness and
ingenuity which ensured that
the State Chapter was on
track. Finally he thanked
the former Vice President,
the Turaki Adamawa Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar as
the only national leader to
publicly endorse the
bipartisan relationship in
Rivers state and whose wise
counsel and fervor at the
time of his decision to
withdraw his case in favour
of Amaechi from the
tribunal. This support
served to reassure him of
the wisdom of the decision
which although unpopular at
the time has hitherto been
justified with the success
of the
strategic partnership between
the opposition and ruling
party in Rivers state and
has become a reference point
for trail blazing
governance. Receiving the
letter in Buguma on behalf
of the party, the AC
Chairman of Ward 3 in Asari-Toru
Local Government Council,
Hon. David Long John
expressed dismay at the
decision taken by the Prince
at a time according to him,
“the people need him most”.
He stated however that there
would be concerted efforts
to build on the legacy that
Princewill was leaving
behind. He also used the
opportunity to wish him the
best in whatever he decided
to do. Princewill used the
opportunity to assure all
his supporters of his
commitment to ensuring that
any next step taken by him
would be taken for the
greater good.
The Prince’s letter
of resignation is hereby
attached for necessary
action.
Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze,
Media Consultant to
Prince Tonye Princewill
YAR'ADUA: Princewill
Condoles Katsina People,
Nigerians, Tasks Jonathan On
Nigeria's Future
Joe Ezuma - Port Harcourt
Prince Tonye Princewill
Action Congress Party (AC)
eaderour leader today ,
expressed his deepest
condolences to the Yar’Adua
family, people of Katsina
and the entire Nation.
Princewill was a member of
the 40 man Presidential
Committee on Niger Delta led
by Ledum Mittee and also
Chairman of the Vision 2020
Sub-Committee on Niger Delta
instituted by President
Yar’Adua.
He resigned when he accused
the Federal Government of
declaring war on some
communities in the region in
their efforts then to
control the militants'
insurgency.
Princewill who phoned his
reaction from his London
base where he was invited to
monitor the UK elections to
express his sadness over the
death of President Yar;Adua,
described it ''as a
monumental loss to the
nation and a personal loss
to me''..
Describing the late
president as tolerant and at
home with constructive
criticisms, Princewill said:
'' I mourn him and pray that
God will give us all the
fortitude to bear this great
loss. We as a country must
move on to give life to some
of his legacies and make
Nigeria truly great.''
While condoling Jonathan
Goodluck on the national
loss, Tonye that President
Jonathan as the new
helmsman, can not have any
excuse henceforth not to
write his name in gold.
''For us, the priorities
should remain Niger Delta,
Power and Electoral Reform.
We have seen the beginnings
of the signs of positive
change in Electoral Reform
with the removal of the Iwu,
an emphasis on Power with
the state of emergency
hanging over it and the
recent report of the
Presidential Advisory
Committee'' , he said.
ACTION CONGRESS (AC)
RIVERS STATE
STATE SECRETARIAT
268A ABA ROAD, PORT
HARCOURT,
RIVERS STATE .www.newriverstate.com
.08033418541 & 08038199163
.E-mail:actioncongressriversstateph@yahoo.co.uk,
mediaconsultanttpcorivers_07@yahoo.com
NATIONAL SECRETARIAT
NO. 16 BISSAU STREET
WUSE ZONE 6
ABUJA NIGERIA
03-05-10
PRESS RELEASE
RT HON. CHIBUIKE AMAECHI
RECIEVES THE LEADERSHIP
NEWSPAPER’S GOVERNOR OF THE
YEAR 2009 AWARD – AN HONOUR
WELL DESERVED-RSAC
The Governor of Rivers State
Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike
Amaechi was on the 30th of
April 2010, in a colourful
ceremony presented with the
award of Governor of the
year 2009 by the Leadership
Newspapers.
This honour is in
recognition of his
outstanding achievements as
Governor in two short years
since his assumption of
office. This is the third
year in a row that the
Governor is receiving a
similar accolade with the
Sun, Compass Newspapers
conferring on him the award
Governor of the year in 2007
and 2008 respectively.
The Rivers State AC wish to
join other indigenes,
friends and stakeholders in
the state to congratulate
His Excellency for this well
deserved honour. We also
commend the management of
the Leadership Newspapers
for reiterating its
commitment to social
responsibility by its
decision to acknowledge the
trail blazing efforts of the
Governor, in his continued
drive to ensure equitable
access to the dividends of
democracy to all and sundry
across the 23 LGAs in the
state.
The conferment of this award
has further justified the
Rivers State AC’s resolve to
continue to support the
Governor as he continues in
his commitment towards
building a virile, vibrant
and egalitarian Rivers
State. The past two years
have seen the state evolve
from a state fraught with
uncertainties resulting from
the siege of militancy and
other criminal activities
resulting in a state of
emergency which brought the
state economy to its knees
with a mass exodus of major
investors in the state
especially in the oil and
gas sector which is the
major economic bedrock of
the state. Today commerce is
gaining ground with Port
Harcourt reclaiming the top
spot of the entertainment
capital of the Nation.
The Governor has to the
credit of his
administration, several
infrastructural development
in the different sectors of
the state and they include
the ongoing construction and
commissioning of projects as
well as the introduction of
modern urbanization
initiatives i.e 200 link
roads, 105 Health Centers,
over 300 model schools,
upgrade of refuse disposal,
urban renewal, upgrade of
security outfits, Private
Public Partnership
Initiatives, dualisation of
eight major roads in Port
Harcourt – Rumola-Rumuokuta
(completed),
Oginigba-Rumuokbiakani Rd
(completed), Eastern by
pass-Amadi Amaa-Oginigba
(reconstruction completed),
Old Aba Road (80%
completed),
Elekahia-Rumuomasi (70%
completed), Rumuokuta-
NTA-Choba Rd (60&
completed), Tam David-West
Rd (80% completed), d
mega-Airport-Isiokpo-Omerelu
dualisation (42km Federal
Rd, 50% completed),
Rumukurusi-Eneka-Igwuruta Rd
(ongoing), award of 850 km
of roads, completion of
260km of roads. Two overhead
bridges completed, two under
construction, four bridges
completed and four under
construction. It is to the
credit of this
administration that very
soon communities in the
Riverine Areas hitherto
inaccessible by road will be
linked to the road network.
Other projects in the
pipeline include the Scrap
to Wealth plant established
at Kira-Tai which will be
functional before the end of
the year. The Greater Port
Harcourt project is ongoing.
PHCN has been tasked with
the distribution of
electricity generated from
the State Independent Power
Project’s (IPP) Gas Turbine
located in Trans Amdi axis
in the Port Harcourt
metropolis.
From all intents and
purposes, Rt. Hon. Chibuike
Amaechi is truly building a
new Rivers State and it is
expected that he be
encouraged to take the State
to the next level. The
Amaechi administration’s
unity government in
partnership with Prince
Tonye Princewill led
Opposition in Rivers State
has proven his understanding
of opposition in new breed
politics and has become a
reference point for the best
way to move the polity
forward in a modern state.
All these monumental feats
notwithstanding, we urge the
Government to improve on its
water distribution network
as many parts of the State
lack quality drinking water.
We advice that the
government takes advantage
of the window of the
remaining 5 years of the
United Nations’ “Water for
life” decade which is a
unique opportunity to
partner with agencies that
can deliver a coordinated
response to the challenge of
water scarcity especially in
the riverine communities.
We would also like to use
this opportunity to commend
and congratulate the Acting
President of Nigeria, Dr.
Jonathan Goodluck for his
astute style of governance
so far especially the bold
step taken in reliving INEC
Chairman, Prof Iwu of his
duties. We hope that this
act will be the harbinger of
good things to come as we
anxiously await the
implementation of the
Justice Uwais Electoral
Reform Committee
recommendations.
The recent signing into law
of the Local Content Bill in
the Oil and Gas Sector is
also a commendable step
taken by the Acting
President so far as we
believe this will reduce the
burden of unemployment and
restiveness in the Niger
Delta Region and improve on
the expertise of Nigerians
in handling the Oil and Gas
Sector.
In conclusion, we also pray
the Acting President to
revisit the recommendations
of the Ledum Mittee
Presidential Technical
Committee on Niger Delta and
issue a white paper for its
implementation as the
panacea to the Niger Delta
Issue and by so doing
demonstrate once and for all
purposeful leadership.
Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze,
Publicity Secretary, Rivers
State AC
Acting President to attend
France-African Summit
As Acting President Goodluck
Jonathan prepares to attend
the France-African Summit on
the invitation of the French
President, Nicolas Sarkozy,
the President of Cote
d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo,
has spoken on the need to
devise means of forging
closer cooperation among
members of the Economic
Community of West African
States (ECOWAS).
Jonathan was elected
Chairman of ECOWAS at the
37th Ordinary Summit of the
ECOWAS Authority of Heads of
State and Government in
Abuja in February.
The 25th session of the
France – Africa Summit,
which will hold in Nice,
France, between 31st May and
1st June, 2010 is a special
multilateral meeting between
France and Africa.
According to the Director,
Public Communications, Mr.
Ozo Nwobu, the Acting
President will attend the
meeting with 49 other
African Heads of State and
Government.
"The Acting President would
be going to France for the
summit and not on a State
visit by the French
Government," Nwobu told our
correspondent on the phone
yesterday.
The Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Mr. Henry
Ajumogobia, received the
Special Envoy of President
Laurent Gbagbo of Cote
D’Ivoire, Professor Bahi
Seri, on behalf of the
Acting President at the
weekend in Abuja.
In a statement by Nwobu,
Gbagbo expressed his desire
not only to strengthen
bilateral cooperation with
Nigeria, but also to seek
ways for our two countries
to partner in forging closer
cooperation amongst member
states of the ECOWAS.
The special envoy was
assured of Nigeria’s
readiness to partner with
Cote d’Ivoire in forging
closer cooperation among
member states of ECOWAS,
especially in the
consolidation of democracy
and good governance as well
as other aspects of the
ECOWAS protocol.
N’Delta: Orubebe Optimistic
on Sustainable Devt
Minister of Niger Delta
Affairs, Hon. Godsday
Orubebe, has
expressedoptimism that
sustainable peace and
development would be
achieved inthe region, and
urged the people to stand by
the government in the
execution of its policies
and programmes.
He noted that the Acting
President, Dr Goodluck
Jonathan, had clearly set
the tone for the country’s
accelerated development
through comprehensive
machinery for Nigeria’s
economic recovery while
signing the 2010
Appropriation Bill into law
last week .
The commitment of the
Federal Government to the
sincere implementation of
the Niger-Delta post-amnesty
development blueprint was
not indoubt, Orubebe
stressed, saying he was
happy at the prevailing
atmosphere of peace in the
region.
The minister made the
remarks in a chat with
newsmen at the weekend
during the official
dedication of the
ultra-modern building of
theVoice of Faith Christian
Church, Effurun, near
Warri.Orubebe was the
special guest-of-honour at
the ceremony presidedover by
the President, Pentecostal
Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN),
PastorAyo Oritsejafor and
supported by the host
minister, Rev (Dr) Sylvanus
Kenerekedi.“The Acting
President, Dr Goodluck
Jonathan, while signing the
Appropriation Bill into law
a few days ago, said it all,
” the minister said “that
the budget implementation
and the various
fiscalintervention measures
will be closely
monitored.”“I must say the
government is happy and
greatly encouraged by
theprevailing atmosphere of
peace in the Niger-Delta
today”, he further said.
adding, “we all know that a
peaceful environment
enhances anymeaningful
development.”
