Sir Celestine Ngozichim Omehia (born 15 September 1959) was the fourth

Governor of Rivers State The Governor of Rivers State is the chief executive of the Rivers State government and is one of the governors of the thirty-six states of Nigeria. The governor is supported by the Deputy Governor, both popularly elected for a term of four yea ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

from 29 May 2007 to 25 October 2007. He is a member of the former ruling

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP). He is married to Mrs. Anthonia Omehia (née Itakpe) and they have three children (Keturah, Kelechi and Kechikamma). He served as Rivers State Commissioner of Education between February 1992 and November 1993 and was later appointed an adviser to Governor

Peter Odili Peter Otunuya Odili (born 15 August 1948) was the third Governor of Rivers State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. Odili is a member of the former ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). Background Peter Odili was born on 15 August 19 ...

. Omehia was declared the winner of the Rivers State gubernatorial election of 2007, held on 14 April 2007, despite wide scale vote rigging and violence. He was sworn in as Governor of the oil-producing state on 29 May 2007, taking over from Dr. Peter Odili (also a member of PDP). In June 2007,

Shell Petroleum Development Company Shell Nigeria is the common name for Shell plc's Nigerian operations carried out through four subsidiaries—primarily Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC). Royal Dutch Shell's joint ventures account for more than 21% of ...

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 election, ruling that

Chibuike Amaechi Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi (born 27 May 1965) is a Nigerian politician, he served as the Federal Minister of Transportation of Nigeria from 2015 to 2022 under the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari. He resigned to contest for Nigeria's presidency ...

, not Omehia, was the 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. The court denied the request.

References

Living people 1959 births People from Ikwerre (local government area) Advisers to the Governor of Rivers State Governors of Rivers State Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party politicians Ikwerre people Rivers State Commissioners of Education Peoples Democratic Party state governors of Nigeria Rivers State gubernatorial candidates {{RiversState-politician-stub