As the political crisis rocking Rivers State takes a drastic turn for the worse, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, has called on the Federal Government to declare state of emergency in the state.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, Chief Tony Okocha, made the call during a media briefing in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
According to Chief Okocha, “Rivers State is at war. And the dramatis personae who are responsible for the mayhem that has claimed lives are known.
“The Governor is helpless, the police is helpless. Therefore the APC in Rivers State is calling for a state of emergency in Rivers State as a way of taming the mayhem, the upsurge that is going on in the state. I call on the federal government to act fast in this regard.
“The Local Government Law No. 2, 2024, has already outlawed the use of caretaker committee chairmen, so if by tomorrow, Thursday, June 20, 2024, the court gives its ruling in favour of the chairmen, are we going to have two chairmen in each local government?”
Thugs yesterday invaded many local government secretariats in Rivers State and chased the elected LGA Chairpersons whose tenure had expired but who got an extension of six months from a faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by Rt. Hon. Martin Amaehule.
However, Governor Siminalayi Fubara on Wednesday swore in Caretaker Committee Chairmen for the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers. The Governor said, ”the law on local government tenure is unambiguous. The court clearly affirmed the position of the law. The law is the law, there is no extension of the local government tenure in it. The court said so.”
This inauguration of Local Government Caretaker Committee Chairmen prompted the APC Caretaker Chairman in Rivers State to call for a declaration of state of emergency in the state.
The former chairmen whose tenure ended on Monday had argued that they had the right to continue in office for six months in line with the amended Local Government Law.
The faction of Rivers House of Assembly loyal to Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, had amended the law on the grounds that Fubara failed to conduct local government election.