The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State chapter, has accused the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of crying wolf over the Rivers local government councils.
The party, through its Rivers Chairman, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, yesterday in Port Harcourt, declared that rather than making reckless, unguarded and careless utterances on the political crisis in the state, it should rather call to order, Governor Nyesom Wike.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement, alleged partisanship by the Federal Government and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in the decision by the police to secure and forestall breakdown of law and order in Rivers state, following the illegal dissolution of 22 of the 23 local government councils and replacement with caretaker committees by Wike.
However, Governor Nyesom Wike yesterday in a radio broadcast claimed that the Inspector General of Police has ordered the seal off of the council secretariat. This could not be independently confirmed at press time.
Rivers APC said: “As a political party, the APC fails to see the need for such accusation by the PDP, while it refused to caution Wike to resist the lure of polluting the hallowed corridor of justice, through the encouragement and purchasing of Jankara court rulings, as witnessed in Port Harcourt.”
In Abuja, the chairmen of the 23 dissolved local governments told Governor Nyesom Wike to obey the court injunction restraining his government from sacking them.
They told reporters in Abuja that they obtained the order of injunction from the National Industrial Arbitration Court sitting in Bayelsa State to restrain the governor from implementing judgement on their sack.
A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt had, on Thursday, nullified the May 23, 2015 local government election in the state on the ground that it was conducted in flagrant disobedience of a court order.
Justice Lambo Akambo ordered that the election should therefore be set aside and the chairmen and councillors that emerged there from be sacked.
But speaking to reporters in Abuja yesterday, the 23 chairmen operating on the platform of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) said “we have obtained an order of interim injunction restraining the same River State government, the House of Assembly and other parties, from ýthe National Industrial Court in Bayelsa State.”
They described Wike’s action as the latest in the series of moves to destroy the legacies of the immediate past governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.
Their spokesman and State Chairman of ALGON, Mr. Sogbeye Eli, said they are currently “under an atmosphere of war levelled against us by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.” He added, “The same governor has done the same to make it impossible for the third tier of government to work in the state.
“From embarking on litigation where PDP decided not to participate in elections, they went to court to seek an order stopping INEC from tampering with the process by not giving INEC updated voters register.
“Where that did not work, they decided to ambush…I mean the same government had directed via the same governor that councils in Rivers State should not be availed of any credit lines, loans, grants by financial institutions. That clearly was a forced regime of financial strangulation.
“It does not matter to this government whether or not such actions touch on the lives of our people where the majority of our people reside.”
Eli insisted that he and his colleagues were validly elected and only after three years will their tenure expire “by the provisions of Rivers State law 2 of 2012.”
He also cited previous decisions of the Supreme Court on the sanctity of the tenure of elected local government councils.
“We have gone to court to ask that governors, the State House of Assembly and other agencies connected there to, be restrained from tampering with ourý tenures,” he said.
“On our part, we have obtained an order of interim injunction restraining the same River State government, the House of Assembly and other parties from ýthe National Industrial court, in Bayelsa state. Our return day to court is 13th of July, 2015.
“One would have thought that a law abiding government under a democratic dispensation would not resort to self help; that they will wait until 13th July, 2015 and see what to do; not to vacate that interim order; and argue that we have no case.
“We have had the dissolution, reckless and very reckless dissolution of boards of parastatals and commissions duly inaugurated by the past regime of Chibike Amaechi as if to say, they are here to obliterate the legacies the last governor.
“We are calling on all good people of Nigeria, authorities of this nation, particularly law enforcement agencies to please step into River State and call these people to order. Everyone is subject to the law and local government chairmen have the right to remain in their offices because they have the mandate of the people of River State in their respective LGAs.”
APC in Rivers also expressed surprise that purportedly acting on the sham ruling by Justice Akanbi, the Rivers governor immediately dissolved the councils, in spite of the fact that there was a subsisting order of interim injunction by the national industrial court in Yenagoa, which Wike, the Rivers House of Assembly and other parties were duly served, describing the action as illegal and aimed at humiliating the subsisting order by Justice Agbadu-Fishim.
It said: “It is worthy of mention that the National Industrial Court in Yenagoa, which issued the order of interim injunction on the 22nd of June, 2015 is of equal or cognate jurisdiction with the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, presided over by Justice Lambo Akanbi, which handed his curious ruling on July 9, 2015.
“Obviously, the Nigeria Police were properly advised to obey and stick to an order, duly issued on June 22, 2015 until vacated or superseded by a judgment or order of the same court or of a higher court.
“The APC simply sees the accusation by the PDP against the Federal Government and the Nigeria Police as cheap blackmail, aimed at eliciting undeserved sympathy from the Nigerian populace and the international community. However, we are happy that both Nigerians and the international community are discerning enough to see through the antics of the PDP.”
Justice Akanbi had sacked the 22 chairmen, for allegedly disobeying his order, who all belong to the APC, and their councillors, who were elected on May 23 this year, during the Rotimi Amaechi’s administration.
The tenure of the chairman and councillors of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA will expire next year and not affected by the dissolution.
Prior to Thursday morning’s sitting of the FHC, there was an explosion at the premises of the FHC, which led to pandemonium, with the people around scampering to safety, but no life was lost, while Justice Akanbi still went ahead to deliver the ruling.
Wike immediately sent names of members of caretaker committees for the 22 LGAs to the state’s House of Assembly, led by Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani and they were quickly screened by the 32 lawmakers, consisting of 31 PDP and one APC member. The caretaker committee members were inaugurated by Wike around 10 p.m. on the same day. The Nation
