The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chapter in Rivers State has taken aim at Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike for his recent rants on the state’s just ended local government poll.
Wike had in an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday voiced dissatisfaction over the attempt by the Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara to conduct the Saturday election against a court judgement.
Remember that in a ruling, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, or RSIEC, had broken the law by failing to publish the required 90-day notice before announcing the election date.
The court ruled that the voter registration could not be released to RSIEC for the Independent National Electoral Commission’s administration of the election.
Additionally, Justice Lifu disallowed the Department of State Service, or DSS, and the Inspector General of Police from handling poll security.
The ruling came after the state chapter of the APC filed a lawsuit against the judge, criticizing RSIEC’s decision to reschedule the polls to October 5.
Governor Fubara ordered that the election be held on Saturday, anyway.
In 22 of the state’s 23 LGAs, the governor’s supporters who ran for chairmanships on the platform of the Action Peoples Party, or APP, prevailed.
The state has documented numerous instances of violent altercations between Wike and Fubara supporters both during and following the election.
Arsonists who are said to be Wike’s supporters set fire to the Ikwerre Local Government secretariat on Monday.
Following actions by certain political thugs to deny the freshly elected council leaders access to their offices, there were gunfire at a few other secretariats.
In his initial public response to the disputes, Wike charged Fubara with undermining Nigerian democracy by disobeying the court’s ruling.
The former governor also said that Fubara’s action in ousting Hon. Martin Amaewhule as Speaker of the House of Assembly was the catalyst for the never-ending turmoil.
But, the state’s PDP quickly intervened, telling the Minister and his backers to file a lawsuit if they were unhappy with the election results.
Sydney Gbara, the publicity secretary for the PDP in Rivers State, questioned why people who had been enthusiastically advocating for the election were now opposed to it in an exclusive interview.
“We are aware that no court decision can halt an electoral process,” he stated. We do know that you have the option to file a complaint with the court after the election if you feel that it was conducted unfairly. Thus, they ought to appear in court.
“Let me bring back Nigerians. President Bola Tinubu included holding local government elections as one of the items on his 2023 presidential peace proclamation.” They (Wike and his followers) have been willing to see the election held.
They even went so far as to tell the assembly that Fubara ought to be impeached if he declines to lead the election. It is now unexpected that the RSIEC, who established the election schedule, is making every effort to thwart it.
“This is the point at which the discussion ought to begin, not whether a court ruling existed or not.
In fact, it reached to the point where the assembly extended the terms of the outgoing LG Chairmen, which was a first for Nigerian democracy. suddenly that the governor has declared that he is prepared for the election, the same individuals are suddenly demanding that it should not take place.
“Where did Governor Fubara make a mistake? In a ruling, the Supreme Court outlawed caretaker committees and mandated that elected LG Chairmen be appointed by each state within a 90-day period, failing which the state would not get funding.
“Governor Fubara is merely following the ruling of the Supreme Court.” It is not in the best interests of the Rivers people for anyone to try to rush the process.
Fubara, according to Sydney Gbara, is a hero who “will continue to be our hero for standing firm to ensure that democracy stands in Rivers State,” she said.
“Cold blooded murders of innocent individuals were committed in an attempt to sabotage the democratic process. In actuality, they arrived late since Rivers People chose to part ways with Fubara.