The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, branch in Rivers State has berated the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister Nyesom Wike for his recent rants on the state’s recently concluded local government poll.
According to the Daily Post, Wike stated his displeasure with Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s decision to hold the poll on Saturday in contravention of a court ruling during a Tuesday interview on Channels TV.
It would be recalled that in a ruling, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, had broken the law by failing to publish the required 90-day notice before announcing the election date.
To prevent RSIEC from conducting the election, the court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withhold the voter registration.
Judge Lifu further prohibited the Department of State Service, or DSS, and the Inspector General of Police from offering poll protection.
After the state branch of the APC filed a lawsuit against the court, RSIEC’s decision to reschedule the polls to October 5 was criticised in the outcome.
As instructed by Governor Fubara, however, the election was held on Saturday.
In 22 of the 23 Local Government Units (LGAs) in the state, the governor’s supporters who ran for chairmanships on the platform of the Action Peoples Party (APP) prevailed.
The state has documented several 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 was 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.
In a prompt reaction, the state’s PDP advised the Minister and his allies to file a lawsuit if they disagreed with the election.
How in an exclusive interview granted to the Daily Post, Sydney Gbara, Rivers State PDP publicity secretary, questioned why those who had been enthusiastically advocating for the election were now opposed to it.
He said, “We are aware that no court judgement can stop an electoral process. What we know is that if you are not okay with an election, you can approach the court after it is conducted. So they should go to court.
“Let me take Nigerians back, conducting the local government election was one of the items on the presidential peace proclamation made by President Bola Tinubu in 2023. They (Wike and his supporters) have been willing to see the election conducted.
“At one point they even instructed the assembly that if Fubara refuses to conduct the election, he should be impeached. It is now surprising that when the RSIEC drew out the timetable for the election, they are now doing everything possible to stop it.
“This is where the conversation should start from and not whether there was a court judgement or not.
“In fact, it got to a point where the assembly elongated the tenure of the previous LG Chairmen and that was the first of its kind in the history of Nigerian democracy. Now, the governor said he is ready for the election, and the same people are now speaking from the other side of their mouths, saying the election should not be held.
“Where has Governor Fubara gone wrong? The Supreme Court has given a judgement prohibiting caretaker committees and said every state should have elected LG Chairmen, and they have a time frame of 90 days or else the state will not get an allocation.
“Governor Fubara is just being obedient to the Supreme Court judgment. Anyone who wants to truncate the process does not mean well for Rivers people.”
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.”
“Innocent people were killed in cold blood all in a bid to frustrate the electoral process. The truth is that they came late because Rivers People have decided to move on with Fubara.
“Cold-blooded murders of innocent individuals were committed in an attempt to sabotage the democratic process. In actuality, they arrived late as Rivers People chose to part ways with Fubara.”