Fubara, Rivers people, stay calm as Wike’s Council Chairmen run riot

Fubara, Rivers people, stay calm as Wike’s Council Chairmen run riot

● Interim administration chairmen attend first Joint Allocation Committee meeting;
● Take absolute control of administrative duties in their LGAs

By PHC Telegraph

Ex-council chairmen working with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike who are still bent on staying a little longer in office aren’t backing down.

Since the beginning of this week, supporters of the former Rivers governor, powered by local council chairmen whose tenures are over, have been on the street.

These people are claiming in front of video cameras, audio recorders and other devices manned by journalists that the transition process which has taken effect in Rivers State after their tenure elapsed is illegal.

Speaking on Arise Television Tuesday, Chidi Iloyd, outgone chairman of Emohua Local Government Area disagreed with the notion that he and his colleagues are former council chairmen.

He faulted the decision of Governor Siminalayi Fubara to appoint Caretaker Committees and said he could have extended the tenure of the outgone chairmen.

Iloyd further justified the refusal of the former chairman and his colleagues to respect the spirit of the law and the Constitution, saying Fubara was in the wrong for appointing Caretaker Committees to take over from them.

His appearance on television came a couple of days after the APC began to push for the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.

Joe Johnson, Commissioner for Information and Communications told Channels TV on Tuesday night that there were attempts to mix oranges with apples , given the kind of narratives that some people are peddling at this time.

Although there were network interruptions which made monitoring difficult, Johnson alleged that the Inspector General of Police, Tunde Egbetokun has been grossly misled.

So far, there has been no reaction from the central government after Tony Okocha, the State chairman of the APC made the call for the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers.

But there is however evidence that the authorities in Abuja who are being urged to get actively involved in the crisis in order to bring down the State Government are monitoring events in the South South State.

The situation which simply boils down to what will happen in the State in 2027 is really delicate.

Any untoward development in the oil-rich State which is seen as the headquarters of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon industry could have far reaching consequences throughout the Niger Delta region and the South South.

Officials of the Nigerian government and experts in the oil industry fear that any fall-out as a result of the political crisis  in Rivers State could endanger multi-million dollar investments in the region.

It could equally affect oil deliveries from the region at a critical time when the country is struggling to meet its OPEC quota.

Somehow, supporters of the Minister  who have been on the streets despite what looks like a ban have been unable in the past few days to lure loyalists of the Rivers Governor unto the streets.

Despite appeals that are being made by the police, urging those on the street to go home and allow the judiciary to conclusively deal with the matters before them, supporters of outgone council chairmen have refused to leave.

Many observers who are watching from the sidelines believe that the unfolding events that are making increasing headlines in the country are part of a deliberate strategy to destabilize the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the entire State.

The use of the council chairmen whose tenures are over to confront the Fubara administration under the guise that there is no plan to hold local government elections was expected to be the perfect masterstroke, at least from the perspective of the pro-Wike group.

Given the critical place of the grassroots in the Rivers political equation, our sources reveal that pro-Wike forces thought early about what would happen to the famed structure of the former governor without a firm grip on local councils.

This thinking, we have gathered, led to the move by Martins Amaewhule and his cohorts to amend the local government law in order to provide for tenure elongation.

They also came up with a plan to use a cadre of the Bench, precisely magistrates, to swear them in.

Unable to get serving magistrates in the judiciary to swear them in for another six months, the chairmen whose tenures have since expired have come together under the auspices of ALGON to urge their people to embark on street protests.

How The Plot To Use Magistrates Failed:

Prior to the expiration of the tenure of the chairmen on June 17, 2024, strategic meetings were held by the camp loyal to Wike to create legal hurdles on the path for the Fubara administration.

The plan, based on information that is reaching our news desk, was to foreclose any move by the government to set up an interim arrangement.

It turned out that Wike and his people were plotting behind the scene to use magistrates  appointed while he was serving as State governor to swear in the council chairmen.

Incidentally, these council chairmen who should be democrats and who ought to bow out peacefully were allegedly persuaded to embrace an amendment made to the Local Government Law by Speaker Martins Amaewhule as he then was which has suffered a setback in court.

The record shows that a court of competent jurisdiction sitting in Port Harcourt has thrown out the amendment proclaiming a tenure elongation that is not consistent with the provisions of the nation’s Constitution.

From facts that have been stitched together, the aim was to use serving magistrates to confer some legitimacy on the process and so, force the Rivers State Government to challenge such an abnormality in court.

The Fubara administration acted swiftly, taking appropriate but assured steps which nipped the plot to use magistrates in the bud.

When the plot failed, series of meetings were again held by Wike supporters in Abuja and parts of the State, including parts of Ada George, to come up with other anti-Fubara strategies.

“This is how the idea to gather supporters at the grassroots to forment crisis was agreed on”, a PDP member who has a deep knowledge of what is playing out stated.

“They are losing serious grounds as the fight escalates. What you now see is a product of their desperation. They cannot imagine that Sim is still here not to talk about winning the war”, the source hinted.

Working For A State Of Emergency:

Monday’s processions which took place at some council headquarters, according to what we have seen, were intended to achieve three major objectives.

Pro-Wike groups which are angling for an opportunity to get the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency intended among other things to create a media event which would place the national searchlight on Rivers State.

Speaking under conditions of anonymity, a political big wig revealed that the entire plan was expected “in the court of public opinion to create the wrong impression that Rivers State is on fire and so, unsafe and unstable under the watch of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.”

Similarly, the procession, its organizers hoped, would spark off fighting between Wike supporters and loyalists of the governor in various local council areas.

Should fighting take place, lives and property would be lost in the wake of an outbreak of violence thereby creating insecurity,  a threat to the peace and political instability

Somehow, the plot to lure law abiding citizens to the street in protest failed again.

The Governor who was apparently one step ahead of the plotters admonished local government Caretaker Committee chairmen as well as his supporters who reside at the grassroots to shun acts of provocation and eschew violence.

The Governor said the new interim leaders can operate from anywhere instead of spilling the blood of the innocent over the fight for the control of council Secretariats across the State.

Iloyd claimed on Arise Television that the reason they had activated their supporters was because labour leaders planned to hit the streets to picket the people to support the decision of the Rivers State Government on the handover of councils to political appointees.

He accused labour leaders of partisanship, saying there was evidence they are aligned on the side of Fubara.

Labour’s purported alignment reflects the mood of the Rivers people who are staunchly behind the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

Fubara has touched so many hearts since coming on board. Among civil servants who were denied promotion and entitlements under the Wike administration, Fubara is a messiah.

While pro-Wike chairmen and their supporters are looking for a chance to engage in a brawl, their pro-Fubara counterparts have taken over the reins of power.

They have attended the Joint Allocation Committee meeting for the first time and secured funds meant for the payment of local government employees and the development of human capital and the empowerment of the rural people.

While’ expired’ chairmen lay siege at the gates of councils with men who are acting like thugs, their incoming counterparts are meeting with critical functionaries and other stakeholders at the grassroots.

More than that, signatories to council accounts at the grassroots level may have changed. Council chairmen loyal to Wike will no longer appropriate council funds. That role has been taken over by the new helmsmen.

 

The State has ordered its Auditor-General to audit council accounts. The idea is to see how the people’s money was spent in the last dispensation by those who presided over the councils.

The move is not intended to be a witch hunt. It is intended, Governor Fubara noted, to ensure that accountability occupies a pride of place as public servants carry out functions assigned to them.