Rivers ex-LG chairmen threaten to resume office

Former local government chairmen in Rivers State have threatened to resume office in the councils if the state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, refuses to obey the recent Supreme Court judgment outlawing the use of caretaker committees to run councils’ affairs.

The former chairmen loyal to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, issued the threat during a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Friday.

Speaking, the former Chairman of Emohua LGA, Dr Chidi Lloyd, said they had remained patient all these while expecting the governor to comply with the court judgment, adding that he had continued to work with the caretaker committee members in the 23 LG councils of the state.

Lloyd alleged that the governor’s actions were capable of causing a breach of the peace in the state and called on the police authority at the national level to take necessary actions to stop the activities of Fubara’s CTC chairmen.

He stated, “The Governor of Rivers State has continued to act as if the state is parallel. The essence of this conference is to say that we are not cowards; if this continues, we will go back to our local government and force ourselves into the councils.

“We have kept quiet because of the kind of leader we have who continues from time to time to preach the path of peace. We are still the same ones that elected him into office as governor when his local government produced less than 5000 votes. If this continues, we will exacerbate the already exacerbated situation.”

 Our correspondent reports that the state Police Command had taken over the LG headquarters of the 23 LGs in the wake of the crisis over the tenure of the LG chairmen, even as the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, later insisted that the police would continue to occupy the councils until a court of competent jurisdiction ruled on the matter.

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