Dons Eze
BATTLE FOR SOUL OF RIVERS STATE: FUBARA, WIKE GROUPS TEST MIGHT
As the rest of the country returned to work today after the Sallah holidays, Armageddon days are here again and all hell may let loose in the escalating supremacy battle for the soul of the oil-rich Rivers State.
At play is a test of federal might versus state grassroots politics. The debilitating crisis between ‘godfather’ Nyesom Wike, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, and ‘godson’ Siminalayi Fubara, the governor of Rivers, that had defied all odds, including a presidential intervention, yesterday, brought the state to its knees in a testy show of strength as forces on both sides matched up to each other with a further threat to stick to their guns.
The battleground is the 23 local council secretariats, especially in the strongholds of the FCT Minister, where some council chairmen have vowed to return to the Secretariat and resume work today despite an executive order by the governor terminating their stay in office after the expiration of their tenures.
In yesterday’s show of force, two security operatives lost their lives in the line of duty.
Spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said two deaths were recorded – a policeman and a vigilante operative.
When pressed for further details, she said investigations had commenced and more details would be released soon.
In the bid to retain firm control of the state, Governor Fubara immediately convened a security council meeting with heads of security agencies over recent political developments in the state.
The meeting was held behind closed doors at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
After the meeting, Fubara told the press that discussions with the security heads centred on strategies to contain the invasion of local government secretariats.
While most of the out-gone council bosses have decided to back down on their hard-stance posturing, three of the affected former chairmen are insisting on remaining in office.
Aside from the Opobo-Nkoro and Bonny Local Council former heads, who vacated their offices voluntarily before June 17, marking the end of the three-year term, other out-gone chairmen in Asari-Toru, Akuku-Toru, Degema, Obio-Akpor, Port Harcourt City, Etche, Omuma, Ogu-bolo, Khana, Tai, Gokhana, Eleme, Oyigbo, among others were yesterday forced out of office by protesting youths who occupied the secretariats as early as 4 00 a.m. on Tuesday.
However, two strong allies of Wike, the Ikwerre Council ex-chairman, Samuel Wanosike, and his counterpart in Emohua, Chidi Lloyd, who earlier boasted that they would not vacate office until they finished the six-month tenure elongation allocated to them by Martins Amaewhule-led Assembly, have vowed to resume work today.
While youths poured out in numbers and invaded the council secretariats across the state, all roads leading to Ikwerre Local Government Area (LGA) headquarters were blocked; no one was allowed access to the council office, including journalists.
The out-gone chairman, Wanosike, was seen in a viral photo seated in front of the secretariat waiting for the protesting youths, while Lloyd also stubbornly insisted that he remains the legitimate chairman of Emohua LGA, vowing not to relinquish his position.
The police and other security agencies were seen armed to the teeth in various council secretariats with armoured vehicles monitoring the situation and ensuring the maintenance of law and order.
They shot teargas to scare away more youths trooping from joining the crowd. There was also resistance from supporters of the embattled LGA bosses but they were overpowered.
Various youth groups have also vowed to occupy all the LGA secretariats in the next two weeks. They, however, assured that they would allow access to council workers to carry out their official duties.
Some of the workers expressed mixed feelings about resuming work today to avoid being caught in the crossfire between youths advancing the cause of the governor and those of the resisting council chairmen.
While some expressed fear following the violent crisis that erupted after the governor’s live broadcast directing heads of Local Government administration to take charge, others expressed joy at returning to work, describing it as a new era and total liberation.
They are buoyed by the governor’s assurance that he will fearlessly lead the way to ensure that peace continues to prevail in the state while also protecting all patriotic supporters for their stand on the path of truth. The governor emphasised that no grand plan to arrest such patriotic supporters on trumped-up charges will be tolerated.
He stated that there is no extension of tenure of elected local government chairmen, adding that the law is unambiguous, clarifying that the court has also affirmed the position of the law.
“If it will cost us our lives to stand on the part of truth, we will do that. And I will be the one that will lead the course,” he added.
The ex-chairman of Ikwerre LGA, Nwanosike, insists he will not vacate the council secretariat, saying until the Appeal Court gives its judgment on the status of the 25 members of the House of Assembly on Thursday. Nwanosike is among three former LGA chairmen, who vowed not to vacate their offices on the basis that a faction of the House of Assembly, led by Amaewhule, had extended their tenure by six months.
Speaking to journalists, Nwanosike accused Fubara and his Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie, of using gunmen to break into local government secretariats in the state, to loot public properties.
In his reaction, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Warisenibo Joseph Johnson, said the former chairman was merely trying to be clever by half, noting that there was no shooting anywhere in the state as alleged.
“His allegations or claims are very funny. We are not in any desperate mode to take over any council in the state. The Constitution is very clear on this matter. It says that any law that is enacted at the lower level cannot supersede the Constitution of the country.
FORMER Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South Leader, Edwin Clark has asked Wike to remain focused and concentrate on the nation’s capital because he has a lot to do and leave Rivers governor and the people of the state alone.
The elder statesman who stated this in an interview, however, accused the former Rivers governor and the immediate past Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and his successor as the masterminds of what he described as politics of madness in Rivers.
The leader of Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) who noted that godfatherism must give way in the nation’s polity and the practice of politics for the development and growth of democracy in the country, said while he has never met Fubara and he cannot ascertain his complexion, he is only out to fight against injustice and oppression.
The interview by the AIT with Clark was in commemoration of his 97th birthday as well as a documentary on his life and achievements.
When asked why attempts have not been made to settle both Wike and Fubara, the leader of the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) said what is playing out is egocentrism, the issue of I made you the governor of the state and you must worship me, but the other saying that he cannot worship man, but God, even though he agreed that he was made the governor by the former governor.
“Politics of madness in Rivers was started by Wike and Amaechi. They don’t care about other people. So, for peace to reign, Wike should stay and remain in Abuja to do his job. Let the young man rule in peace without hindrance. We already see the same chaos of federal might happening in Kano State, such should not be encouraged at this stage of our democracy.”
Similarly, opposition federal lawmakers under the aegis of G-60 on Tuesday said the attempt by 23 former local council chairmen in Rivers to forcefully retain their seats after the constitutional expiration of their three-year tenure was tantamount to a treasonable act.
The group, led by Ideato Rep, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, after an emergency meeting in Abuja, called on the authorities in Rivers to immediately press treason charges against the council chairmen and their sponsors over the committal of the alleged act.
In attendance at the press conference held at the National Assembly complex in Abuja were Aliyu Mustapha (Kaduna), Matthew Nwogu (Imo) and Midaila Usman (Borno).
The lawmakers accused the former council chairmen of breaching the provisions of section 37 (1) of the Criminal Code Act, section 39 of the Nigeria Police Act, section 12 of the Criminal Procedure Code, section 23 of the Criminal Procedure Code and section 1 (2) of the constitution that frowns at anybody or group of persons that attempts to unlawfully occupy position of power in the country or forcefully attempt to take over government in any part of Nigeria.
They called on the judiciary to remain vigilant in curbing the activities of persons desperate to take over institutions of governance in Rivers or any part of the country.
The lawmakers frowned at what they referred to as attempted treason organised by the LGA chairmen, who wanted to use magistrates/judges from neighbouring states to conduct a kangaroo swearing-in ceremony around 5.00 a.m. on Tuesday even though their tenure expired on June 17.
