Rivers Crisis: I haven’t been able to assume of office – LGA caretaker chair

The new caretaker chairperson of Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, Darlington Orji, said he has been unable to assume office since his inauguration on Wednesday.

Mr Orji, who appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s prime-time programme, Politics Today, said the police prevented him from entering the local government secretariat.

The police took over the secretariats of the 23 local government areas in the state after deadly clashes erupted on Tuesday in the wake of the expiration of the three-year tenure of the council officials on Monday.

The spokesperson for the police in Rivers State, Grace Iringe-Koko, announced Tuesday night that two persons, including a police officer, died in a clash at Eberi-Omuma, Omuma Local Government Area.

According to Mr Orji’s television comment on Wednesday, the police barricades remained at the local government secretariats across the state even after Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s swearing-in of the new caretaker committees in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Wednesday.

“I got to the Ikwerre local government council and saw that it is being barricaded by the security agents, the police to be very precise. And I asked a question, and they said they were acting on the orders of the Inspector General of Police. So that is the situation,” Mr Orji said on the live television programme.

Political crisis

A political crisis has engulfed the state since the early period of Governor Fubara in office, a fallout of the battle between him and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, for control of the political structures in the state.

Mr Wike, currently the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), still wields enormous political influence in the state, which Mr Fubara, who Mr Wike backed to win last year’s governorship election, appears poised to whittle down.

Many former officials were elected when Mr Wike was governor and are loyal to him. They vowed to stay in office, saying the state House of Assembly had extended their tenure by six months.

The crisis-ridden 31-member House of Assembly is divided, with an overwhelming majority of 27 of them who claimed to have defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party in the state, to the All Progressives Congress (APC), have pitched their tent with Mr Wike.

Martin Amaewhule leads the pro-Wike group in the state.

Victor Oko-Jumbo and two other members in charge of the House of Assembly have declared the pro-Wike lawmakers’ seats vacant following their defection to the PDP, a move the Court of Appeal in Abuja has validated.

The local government council officials, whose tenures expired on Monday, vowed to remain in office, banking on a bill passed by the pro-Wike lawmakers extending their term in office by six months.

The governor refused to assent to the bill.

However, the group of lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto.

At least six times, they had overridden Mr Fubara’s veto of bills. This development forced the governor to declare they were no longer members of the state’s assembly and had lost their seats, having defected to the APC.

Earlier on Tuesday, Governor Fubara asked administrative heads of the various local government areas to temporarily take charge of council areas from the outgoing elected officials whose tenures ended on Monday.

On Wednesday, the governor swore in caretaker committees for the 23 local government areas amid the lingering political crisis in the state.

However, the local government caretaker committees have been unable to assume office with the police, announcing that they took over the various local government secretariats to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

“I could not access the council because I do not want to break laws,” Mr Orji said, referring to the police blockade preventing him from assuming office as the chairperson of the caretaker committee for the Ikwerre Local Area.

Argument over state of emergency

During the live TV programme on Wednesday, Mr Orji, who is of the PDP, argued with the APC chairperson in Rivers State, Tony Okocha, over the proprietary of declaring a state of emergency to restore peace and stability in the state.

The Nigerian president declares a “state of emergency” to invite the military to take over security in a troubled part of the country.

Mr Okocha likened the situation in the state to a war, which he said warranted 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, Mr Okocha said on the TV programme on Wednesday. “The solution to the quagmire in Rivers State is that a state of emergency should be imposed.”

But Mr Orji opposed the call to declare a state of emergency.

He said comments from personalities like Mr Okocha “should stop beating the drum of war and preach peace.”

Earlier in May, Mr Okocha called for the removal of Mr Fubara for allegedly dishonouring a peace deal that President Bola Tinubu brokered between the rival groups last year.

However, the state government swiftly denied the allegations, adding that the 27 pro-Wike lawmakers in the state had lost their standing to initiate any move to remove the governor.

Reigniting his attack on the governor on the television programme on Wednesday, Mr Okocha said the citizens of the state were facing molestation, attacks and humiliation on the governor’s watch.

He said the governor, who he accused of ignoring advice, could have deescalated the situation by conducting local government elections across the 23 local government areas instead of waiting until the last minute to appoint caretakers for the local government councils.

“It is the governor who has decided to be un-teachable. He has decided to refuse or become amenable to counsel to the extent. He would close his ears and do whatever he felt he would do, not even minding and no recourse to the law. That is where we are in Rivers State,” Mr Okocha said.

Responding, Mr Orji maintained that “the governor is very sensitive to the plight of the people.”