The only governor who ruled Rivers state, Nigeria for 4 months, 25 days

In the history of Rivers, a southern state in Nigeria, Sir Celestine Omehia remains the only individual who has served the state the shortest – 4 months and 25 days. He was took the mantle on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on May 29, 2007.

Before becoming governor, Omehia had served as an adviser to Governor Peter Odili. Then, he was declared the winner of the Rivers State gubernatorial election of 2007, held on 14 April 2007, despite wide scale vote rigging.

In June 2007, Shell Petroleum Development Company announced a plan to relocate its headquarters from Port Harcourt to Lagos for security reasons. Omehia appealed to the people to help fight against hostage takers, who were harming the state economy. In September 2007, Celestine Omehia won approval for a supplementary state budget of N53.2 billion in addition to the approved 2007 budget of N179 billion. The supplementary budget was almost entirely earmarked for capital projects. Tell Magazine stated that Omehia may have been under pressure to settle “election liabilities”.

On 25 October 2007, the Supreme Court annulled Omehia’s governorship election, and ruled that Chibuike Amaechi was PDP’s legitimate candidate. Amaechi had won the PDP primaries, but the party had substituted Omehia at the last moment due to allegations of graft. In October 2009, Omehia asked the supreme court to review their opinion but the court denied the request.

Sir Celestine Ngozichim Omehia is 66 years today having been born on 15 September 1959. He is married to Mrs. Anthonia Omehia (née Itakpe) and they have three children (Keturah, Kelechi and Kechikamma).

Credit Wikipedia/Ethnic African Stories.