Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state, following the political crisis rocking the state which had claimed three lives including a policeman.
Chief Tony Okocha, the caretaker Committee Chairman of the APC in the state made the call in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, stating that the deployment of security agencies to take over the reins of governance was the best solution to the crisis.
Okocha, who emphasised the need for immediate action by the Federal Government, stressed that if the crisis is allowed to escalate further, the nation’s economy would suffer as the state plays a vital role in the nation’s economy.
He said both the state Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and the Police are unable to tame the situation, hence the deployment of the military in tackling the crisis remained apt in preventing further loss of lives and destruction of properties.
Okocha said, “Rivers State is at war, and who are the dramatis personae responsible for the mayhem that has claimed 3 lives? They are Governor Siminalayi Fubara versus Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
“The governor is helpless, the Police is helpless. Therefore the APC in Rivers State is calling for a state of emergency in Rivers State as a way of taming the mayhem, and the upsurge that is going on in the state. I call on the federal government to act fast in this regard.”
The state APC chief stated that the crisis in the state would have been avoided if the governor had listened to the President’s advice against appointing Caretaker Committees for the 23 LGAs of the state at the expiration of the tenure of the elected council chairmen on Monday June 17.
“The Governor doesn’t take counsel. If the President of the country in a well constituted meeting should advise him that that nomenclature called caretaker committee shouldn’t be encouraged, if he disobeyed Mr. President, who will now come to our rescue?
“In January, 2024, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), held a meeting with the Chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), and in that meeting, the chairman said that they are aware of what the law says on local government elections, and they are ready for election but they need the permission of the executive (the government).
“Now what is happening today in the state? The Governor has made himself and the state vulnerable and now we’re susceptible to attacks.
He added, “Now, Rivers State is in a state of war because the governor does not listen to counsel, even the counsel of Mr. President.
“APC Rivers State is demanding for a State of Emergency. It is the way out so that we can live in peace, because it would be too late to cry when the head is cut off.
“Let the army be deployed to take over strategic places, let this moribund government be sent to the abyss and let Rivers State heave a sigh of relief; otherwise, we’ll be crying when the head is off.”
Speaking further, Chief Okocha said, “It’s better for the President to wade in now before it becomes too late. The federal government should do what it should do so that it won’t get to a situation where we would be seeing fire everywhere.
“It’s better right now that we are able to assuage this very ugly scenario before the state would go aflame. They have unleashed non-state actors and they brandish guns without restrictions, the boys have been let loose and you will see the level of criminality in the state would be so unimaginable.”
Chief Okocha also berated the governor for swearing in caretaker committees across the 23 LGAs of the state when a matter concerning local government autonomy is pending before the Supreme Court and another judgement expected by the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
He said the governor was striving in illegality by using a 3-man Assembly that not properly constituted to screen and swear-in caretaker committees.
The APC Chairman also dissociated the party from a comment credited to their former leader of the party and ex-Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi who alleged that 84 percent of Nigerians are not happy with the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He condemned the statement and questioned where Amaechi got his misleading statistics from, adding that the statement does not represent the position of Rivers APC.
“We’re here to ask Amaechi how he generated that data. It’s false as far as we’re concerned, and we use this opportunity as a party in the state to say to Nigerians and to let Mr. President know that he (Amaechi) spoke for himself and not for the APC Rivers State.
“That his personal animosity and idiosyncrasy cannot override the interest of APC in Rivers State. We dissociate APC Rivers State from that unkind comment made by our former leader Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and to say that Rivers people and Nigerians support Mr. President,” he stated.
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