Ex-council chairmen
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By Amah
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The last is yet to be heard about the lingering crisis in the local government administration council chairmen have threatened to resume office in the councils if Governor Siminalayi Fubara fails to obey the recent Supreme Court judgement on the use of caretaker committees.
The former chairmen, who are loyalists of the former governor of the state and now the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, issued the threat in a news briefing in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Friday.
Dr. Chidi Lloyd, the former chairman of Emohua LGA, Fubara has continued to work with the Caretaker Committee members in the 23 LG councils of the state instead of complying with the ruling of the apex court.
He claimed that by so doing the governor could be creating conditions for a breach of the peace in the state.
He urged the police authority at the national level to take necessary actions to stop the the CTC chairmen from working.
“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,” Chidi Lloyd averred.
“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.”
He threatened that they would be forced to cause trouble in the state if the CTC chairmen are not restrained.
“If this continues, we will exacerbate the already exacerbated situation, we are not cowards. We are calling on the police to act fast. The State House of Assembly had written to the Inspector General of Police and also resolved on the floor of the House on the police. We do not know why the police in Rivers are foot-dragging and saying that things are done properly,” he added.
“Anybody who deals with them (CTC chairmen) does so at his or her detriment. Any further impersonation, we will all hit the field, then in law, we will now know what the Supreme Court has said.”
On his part, Hope Ikiriko, the ex-chairman of Ahoada West LGA, accused the governor who by law was vested with the power to maintain law and order of failing to do so.
“We are not even saying we all are agitated; the people are agitated. They call us daily and we are the voice of the voiceless. That is why we are telling the government to work timely,” Ikiro said.
“Our governor doesn’t seem to be interested in peace. They are going about sealing off properties belonging to perceived enemies. We are not afraid of them, but they should make sure there is peace and order in the state. As the governor is sealing properties, we will also visit his properties in the old GRA,” he threatened.
Allwell Ihunda, the former Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government and immediate past Chairman of ALGON in the state, said the briefing was to draw the attention of President Bola Tinubu, the National Assembly, the judiciary, security agencies, and Rivers people to the “crass contempt of judgements of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court delivered on July 4, 2024 and July 11, 2024, respectively”.
He posited that other state governors had allegedly started obeying the order of the court to step down caretaker committees across the nation, but the reverse is the case in Rivers.
He alleged: “In Rivers State, the State Government is busy promoting these illegal caretaker committees by encouraging the illegal caretaker committee chairmen and members to parade themselves as head of the Local Government Administration in the 23 Local Government Areas.”
