Former Local Government Chairmen in Rivers State have threatened to forcibly occupy their respective councils if the state government continues to support the illegal Caretaker Committee Chairmen.
This threat was made during a press briefing in Port Harcourt on Friday.
The former chairmen, led by Chidi Lloyd and Allwell Ihunda, accused Governor Siminalyi Fubara of backing illegality by allowing the CTC chairmen to remain in office despite a Supreme Court judgment nullifying their appointments.
They called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to arrest the CTC chairmen and urged the police to act swiftly to prevent further escalation.
Lloyd stated, “We are not cowards. If this continues, we will go back to our local government and force ourselves into the council. That’s exactly what we are going to do. We have kept quiet because of the kind of leader we are – who continues from time to time to preach the path of peace. We are not cowards.”
He added, “If this continues, we will exacerbate the already exacerbated situation. We are not cowards. We are calling on the police to act fast. The State House of Assembly had written to the Inspector General of Police. We do not know why the police in Rivers are foot-dragging and saying that things are done properly.”
Ihunda expressed disappointment at the governor’s defiance of the Constitution and Supreme Court judgment.
He said, “We are taken aback and saddened by the blunt inclination and rebellious stance of the Governor of River State against the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the explicit judgement of the highest court in Nigeria.
“We believe that it is a major paradox, an aberration for the government to be the major lawbreaker of the laws of our land. The situation in River State is totally different. Ours is another example of flagrant disobedience of the Supreme Court judgement. What we are seeing is repugnant to the provisions of the Constitution in River State.
“The state government is busy promoting illegal caretaker committees by encouraging the illegal caretaker committee chairmen and members to parade themselves as the head of the local government organisations in the 23 local government areas.
“The extent to which the governor of River State is obeying court orders and even targeting decisions of superior judicial bodies as unconstitutional is alarming. To this end, we call on law enforcement agencies to swing into action and salvage the situation lest the acts of the governor and that of the caretaker committee chairmen tear the state apart.”
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