APC Demands State Of Emergency In Rivers

 …Flays Amaechi For Criticising Tinubu’s Administration

PORT HARCOURT – The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has called on the Federal Gov­ernment to declare a state of emergency in the state.

The Caretaker Commit­tee Chairman of the APC in the state, Chief Tony Oko­cha, made the call in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, stating that the deployment of security agencies to the local government secretar­iats in the state was the best solution to 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.

He said, “Rivers State is at war, and who are the dra­matis personae responsible for the mayhem that has claimed three 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 does not take counsel. If the presi­dent of the country in a well constituted meeting should advise him that that nomen­clature called caretaker committees should not 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 are 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 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 takeover 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 is 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 judgment 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 is 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 are here to ask Amaechi how he generated that data. It is false as far as we are 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.