Fubara appoints 23 non-indigenes into caretaker committees for local councils

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has appointed 23 non-indigenes to the recently inaugurated local government caretaker committees in the state.

The governor, on Wednesday, inaugurated a new caretaker for local governments in the state following the expiration of the three-year tenure of the former elected council officials on Monday.

In a statement on Friday, The Director of Mobilisation of a group, Non-Indigene SIMplified Movement, Uchenna Okokoba, applauded Mr Fubara for the appointment

SIMplified Movement is a new political movement in Rivers State canvassing grassroots political support for Governor Fubara.

In the seven-member caretaker committee, the governor appointed one non-indigene into each of the 23 local government councils in the state.

“Special appreciation to the Governor of Rivers State for this sense of inclusivity given to non-indigenes in the state by giving us 23/23,” Mr Okokoba said.

“We will not fail in delivering at all levels in support of the good works of the administration,” he added.

Caretaker committee

Prior to their inauguration, there had been confusion in Rivers State which is deeply divided among two factions – one loyal to Governor Fubara and the other loyal to former governor, Nyesom Wike, who is now the FCT minister.

The outgone elected officials who are loyal to the FCT minister had refused to vacate office citing an amended Local Government Administration Law by 27 pro-Wike lawmakers.

The law had stripped Governor Fubara of the power to appoint caretaker committees for local councils and also extended the tenure of the elected officials by six months in a situation where the state government failed to conduct local government elections.

However, Victor Oko-Jumbo, after emerging as speaker of a three-member Rivers House of Assembly, obtained an interlocutory injunction from a State High Court restraining the pro-Wike lawmakers from parading themselves as members of state assembly.

The trial court had also invalidated all the resolutions made by the pro-Wike lawmakers from last December that their seats were declared vacant after they defected from the PDP to the APC.

Dissatisfied with the decision of the trial court, the pro-Wike lawmakers appealed against the court order. They asked the appellate court to vacate the order, a request the Appeal Court declined, and instead urged parties to maintain the “present status quo,” pending the determination of the appeal.

The inauguration of the new caretaker triggered violence among supporters of Mr Fubara and those of Mr Wike, leading to the death of two persons, including a police officer.

The commissioner of police in Rivers, in response, ordered police operatives to take over the secretariats of the 23 local government councils in the state.

Mr Fubara had told chairpersons of the council, during their inauguration, that it did not matter where they operated from at the moment, but that what mattered was that they had been given the mandate to operate.

The governor appears to have taken control of the grassroots political structure in the state with the inauguration of the new caretaker committee, a key political gain that the allies Mr Wike did not want to see happen.