PDP argued that Gov Fubara didn’t ignore court order and that he was just following Supreme Court’s judgement on LG elections
By Kehinde Okeowo
Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has disagreed with the views of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike on the just concluded local government election in the state.
Wike had on Tuesday while featuring on a Channels TV’s programme criticized Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara for proceeding with the conduct of Saturday’s LG poll despite the Justice Peter Lifu’s order barring the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) from doing so.
The judgment followed the suit brought before the judge by the state chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) faulting RSIEC’s move to fix October 5 for the polls.
After the LG election was conducted, RSIEC declared that Fubara’s loyalists who contested the chairmanship positions under the platform of the Action Peoples Party (APP) won in 22 out of the 23 LGAs in the state.
Since then, the state has recorded a series of violent clashes between supporters of Wike and Fubara.
On Monday, arsonists set some local government secretariats ablaze.
There were also gunshots in some other secretariats following moves by some political thugs who were trying to prevent the newly elected council bosses from gaining access to their offices.
Reacting to the developments, Wike accused Fubara of derailing Nigerian democracy by refusing to obey a court judgement.
He also alleged that Fubara’s move to remove the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Martin Amaewhule triggered the unending crisis.
However, in a swift response, PDP in the state urged the Minister and his supporters to seek redress in court if they were not okay with the outcome of the election.
Speaking with DAILY POST, PDP’s publicity secretary in Rivers State, Sydney Gbara, wondered why those who were eagerly agitating for the election were now against it.
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He added that Governor Fubara was just following the verdict of the Supreme Court on LG elections.
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 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 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.”
Sydney Gbara described Fubara as a hero, stressing that “he 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.”