Rivers communities on edge as political crisis unsettles councils

The dividends of democracy and good governance rarely trickle as fast down the third tier of government in this part of the world. But its troubles and crises are often mutually assured for the grassroots, and today’s Rivers State affirms that, ANN GODWIN reports.

The controversy over the tenure of local council chairmen in Rivers State has not only crippled social-economic activities at that tier of government but further pushed the state to the precipice.
 
No thanks to the war of attrition between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his estranged political godfather and Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike. Both of them have been at loggerhead over the control of the soul of governance in the state.
  
However, the expiration of the tenure of the council chairmen who are loyal to Wike on June 17 further heightened the political tension in the oil-rich state, with debilitating effects on people at the grassroots and council workers, who have been locked out of their offices.
 
For instance, a couple whose court wedding was slated for last Friday at the Port Harcourt City Local Government Council could not access the secretariat for the ceremony.  Consequently, all monies spent for the planning, arrangements even in the face of economic woes, hike in prices of food stuff, and services were wasted.
 
Similarly, when The Guardian visited Obio-Akpor and Port Harcourt councils, it was observed that hapless members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who were supposed to commence their screening and other documentations were frustrated by the police blockade mounted at the council secretariats.
 
Also, builders that wanted to obtain approvals for their building projects from the councils lamented their inability to access the council secretariat.
 
The 23 councils are also losing huge revenue because since their secretariats were locked following protests and counter protests by Fubara and Wike supporters, sundry levies local councils collected from companies, industries, and traders had stopped.
 
However, while the people at the grassroots are still counting their losses over the crippling of the local councils, The Guardian checks revealed that the battle for the control of the local councils between Fubara and Wike may not end soon.
 
It was gathered that Governor Fubara took the action not to extend their tenure in order to cut the major source of funding of pro-Wike lawmakers in the state House of Assembly. It was alleged that the anti-Fubara lawmakers had been relying on the council chairmen for funds since the governor had stopped paying their salaries and wages.
 
Some local councils in the state, especially where oil companies and industries are located are believed to have access to huge resources, even more than money accrued to them from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
   
Sources said the immediate past local council chairmen in the state got between N4.9 billion and N8.2 billion annually and an undisclosed amount of IGR every month.
  
Obio-Akpor Local Council, which is one of the largest councils hosting companies and industries like Shell, Nigeria Agip Oil Company, TotalEnergies is believed to be richer than some states in the federation.
  
However, there was neither audit nor supervision on the council accounts to ascertain if the projects executed were commensurate with the funds received.
 
However, Governor Fubara, with his experience as the former Accountant General of the state, had shortly after swearing-in the new caretaker committee chairmen, directed the state Auditor General to audit the financial records of the 23 local government councils.
 
Watchers of the ongoing crisis alleged that the immediate past council chairmen ran their administration with little checks on their finances.  
 
Recall that Wike had announced the state revenue to be an average of N11 billion monthly, while his successor, with less than five months in office announced N27 billion per month.
 
While the battle rages after the presidential peace pact failed, it was alleged that the governor stopped the funds by Pro-Wike House of Assembly members led by Martins Amaewhule.
  
The State Assembly led by Amaewhule in April vetoed Governor Fubara’s power and enacted an amendment to the Rivers State Local Government Law, which empowered it to extend the tenure of the council chairmen by six months.
  
The idea of vetoing the governor’s power and extending council chairmen’s tenure by six months according to a legal practitioner and a senior lecturer at the Rivers State University, Dr Chukwuma Chinwo, was to arrange strategies of getting revenue from the Local Government heads, who are also in the camp of the FCT Minister.
  
He said: “Their aim was to run a parallel government so that local governments will begin to finance them (Assembly) but they didn’t know they were building on sand that could not last.”
 
He also pointed out that the ultimate aim of the whole political drama was to enable the House of Assembly to get the local councils to finance them having fallen apart with Governor Fubara.
 
The varsity don argued that from the above scenario, it was obvious that the ex-chairmen and Amaewhule-led lawmakers were fighting for their interest and not for the interest of the citizens.
 
“The ultimate aim of Nigerian politicians is to continue to milk the resources, they rarely fight for the interest of the people,” he stated.
   
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the state Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the extension of period the police would occupy the council secretariat as directed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun.
 
It is on record that former governors in the state had always attempted to achieve a ‘third term’ in office by proxy, by installing their ‘godsons’ as successors.
 
Former Governor Chibuike Amaechi attempted it but failed. The FCT Minister, Wike blacklisted over 17 governorship aspirants under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2023 elections and picked Fubara, who came from a civil servant background.
  
But Fubara was unable to tolerate the directives from Wike, which many described as anti-people and that led to the October 31, 2023 political battle where the State Assembly complex was burnt.
 
It was also gathered that the ongoing battle for the control of the local councils is unarguably because of the importance of local councils to garner votes from the grassroots during elections.
 
A Policy and Political Analyst, Olalekan Ige, has also argued that the crisis at the local councils is also a battle for the soul of Rivers State.
 
He said: “Local Government Areas represent a critical structure in the state because when you control the LGAs, you have the people and can easily mobilise for elections anytime.
 
“For a state that has 319 electoral wards and 23 local government areas, it gives an idea of what volume of political influence the LGA will bring into the power picture ahead of the next election. So, it is all for political control of the state.”
 
He, however, affirmed that the battle is not for the interest of the common people but to protect personal interests of the political gladiators.
 
Meanwhile some workers in the state have condemned the ongoing rift between the governor and the immediate past council chairmen, urging them to allow the governor to work.
 
One of the state workers, Amadi Fineborne, explained that the council workers’ resistance against the Minister’s camp was due to his inhuman treatments of the workers across the state.
 
According to Fineborne: “For eight years, Wike dealt with the workers; no promotion, no salary increase, no incentive. But less than four months, someone came and changed the ugly narratives, and nothing can stop our support for Fubara.” 
   
With the nagging crisis in the state, APC caretaker Committee Chairman in Rivers, Tony Okocha, has urged President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the state.
 
Okocha likened the ongoing political quagmire in the state to a war, which he said forced the party to call for the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State.
 
“This war in Rivers State is not a looming war; it is full blown as we speak,” Okocha said.
 
But, piqued by Okocha’s call for a state of emergency, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, described the idea as baseless.
 
Johnson urged the IGP to direct his men to vacate the Council secretariats to enable the CTC chairmen carry out their functions and for the council workers to do their works.
 
He explained the court order by Justice D.G. Kio has rested all matters on Local Government chairmen issues as there is no stay of execution.
  
For Fubara, how the crisis is ultimately resolved could either propel or greatly impede his administration. More episodes are likely to unfold in the coming days as the residents anxiously look forward to the reopening of the council secretariats.