Daily Independent Online.
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Monday, July 12, 2004.
Dikibo's
replacement splits S’South governors
By Uduak
Iniodu
Correspondent, Uyo
South South governors are split over the replacement for
deceased Aminasoari Dikibo as National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP).
Dikibo was assassinated on February 6.
A meeting held to appoint his successor at the weekend
ended in fiasco as four of the governors reportedly voted against the candidate
jointly presented by Aso Rock, Rivers State Governor Peter Odili and PDP board
of trustees Chairman Tony Anenih.
A source said the meeting ended in confusion when Odili
insisted on presenting one of his Special Advisers Frank Eke to replace Dikibo.
He was said to have argued that Rivers State is yet to
complete its tenure because of the untimely death of its
representative and that there is need for the state to produce someone else to
continue from where Dikibo left off.
But the other four Governors - Victor Attah (Akwa
Ibom), James Ibori (Delta) Lucky Igbinedion (Edo) and Alamieyeseigha (Bayelsa)
- insisted that it is improper for Rivers State to continue to field
candidates for the position when both Dikibo and Harry Marshall who had
occupied it died in mysterious circumstances.
The four reportedly rooted for a candidate from Bayelsa State, leading to an argument which
abruptly ended the meeting.
In his key note address, Attah had called for the trial of
Dikibo’s driver and orderly
both of who witnessed the murder.
In his view, it is “painful and insulting” that
months after the murder
“nothing concrete has been done by the security agencies to
unravel the mystery death”.
Attah said instead, people are scrambling to replace him
for reasons not known to the Niger Delta people.
His words: "Before we talk about his replacement, why
can't we demand that the police must solve this murder. Afterall, there are two
people who were with him from the time he entered the vehicle to the time his
lifeless body was deposited in the mortuary and therefore must know what in
fact happened.
“Why must we allow our intelligence to be insulted
with such a story that a single bullet fired at an impossible angle through the
windscreen suddenly turned
round and hit Dikibo in the back of his head with such a shattering and
devastating finality where he sat in the back seat”.
