By Abubakar Yunusa
Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), says Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, is the “architect” of the violence in the state.
In an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, Wike attributed the violence in Rivers state to the governor’s failure to obey the rule of law and court judgment.
The FCT minister said Fubara dismissed the judgment of the federal high court in Abuja that restrained the police and other security agencies from participating in the October 5 Rivers LGA elections.
“When I was governor, I always obeyed the rule of law. You heard the governor said, our state is turning to a state of anarchy where people did not obey the rule of law. What is obeying the rule of law?” Wike asked.
“You must respect and obey the judgment of the court. You must not take the law into your hands. It does not matter how you see that judgment.
“The moment you don’t obey court judgments, you are inviting anarchy and violence. Was that destruction done before now?
“A governor came out on national television to tell the world that I will not obey court judgment.
In fact, he said there is nowhere in the judgment that the court said the election should not hold. He went so far as to say, I don’t need police before I conduct the election.
“In that case, who is the perpetrator of that violence? It is not about blaming. The governor is the architect of the violence in Rivers.”
On Monday, hoodlums razed sections of three LGA secretariats — Emohua, Eleme, and Ikwerre — to prevent the elected officials from resuming their duties.
On Saturday, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) conducted elections into 23 chairmanship and 319 councillorship seats in the state.
The Action Peoples Party (APP) won 22 LGAs in the election, while the Action Alliance (AA) was victorious in one LGA.
On Sunday, the Rivers governor swore in the newly elected LGA chairpersons.
On Monday, hoodlums razed sections of three LGA secretariats — Emohua, Eleme and Ikwerre — to prevent the elected officials from resuming their duties.
BACKGROUND
The build-up to the Rivers LGA elections was trailed by controversy which was exacerbated by conflicting court orders and pushback from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On September 4, a high court in Rivers state held that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) could conduct the LGA elections using the 2023 voter register.
However, on September 30, a federal high court in Abuja barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voter register to RSIEC.
The court also barred the inspector-general of police (IGP) and the Department of State Services (DSS) from providing security for the elections.
Despite the federal high court ruling and the withdrawal of security personnel, Fubara said the election would proceed as planned.