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.
Caretaker Committee Chairman of the party in Rivers, Chief Tony Okocha, made the call during a media briefing in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He said, “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 are 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?”
Okocha made the call after Governor Siminalayi Fubara swore in caretaker committee chairmen for the 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers.
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.
But speaking at a press conference in Port Harcourt, the state capital, Fubara 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.”
Political pundits have described the ongoing developments in Rivers as a battle ground test for the camps of Wike and Fubara.
