Rep tells Tinubu to call Wike to order – says nothing will remove Rivers LG chairs from office

Ikenga Ugochinyere, a member of the house of representatives, has alleged that supporters of Nyesom Wike, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), are behind the attacks on the LG secretariats in Rivers state.

At least three LG secretariats in the south-east state—Emohua, Eleme, and Ikwerre—were set on fire by hoodlums on Monday.

The secretariats were torched after Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, swore in the 23 newly elected LG chairpersons.

The local council election was conducted on Saturday.

The Action Peoples Party (APP) won 22 LGAs, while the Action Alliance (AA) claimed one.

Fubara’s loyalists joined APP weeks before the election to secure the party’s tickets to contest the poll.

In a statement, Ugochinyere, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representing the Ideato federal constituency of Imo, asked President Bola Tinubu to caution Wike.

The lawmaker claimed that those orchestrating attacks on the LGA secretariats want a state of emergency to be declared in Rivers.

“Supporters of a serving minister in Tinubu’s government are alleged to be busy burning headquarters of another arm of government, and the police since morning have not stopped them,” the statement reads.

“Mr. President, do you know what this means? Nigeria has worked paths like this before, and the consequences were enormous. Stop the madness these overnight supporters are carrying out.

“Rivers people and Nigerians are recording all these for you. Elected LGA chairmen have been sworn in, and there is nothing this alleged Wike group can do that will change this or remove the democratically elected government of Gov. Fubara from office.

“Stupidity is when you think a state of emergency can be declared when you burn parts of a local government and rent cultists to be firing guns cowardly from moving vehicles, all in a bid to aid a greedy, desperate man in his mad quest to seize the public purse of a people.

“Let the president stop the madness coming from Abuja before it destroys the entire democratic system. Act in your own interest.”

BACKGROUND

Fubara and Nyesom Wike, his predecessor and minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), are locked in a supremacy battle over the control of the political structure of Rivers state.

The build-up to the Rivers LGA elections was marked by controversy, fueled by conflicting court rulings.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP also opposed the conduct of the poll.

On September 4, a high court in Rivers state held that Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) could conduct the LGA elections using the 2023 voter register.

But 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 conduct of the election.

However, the election was conducted without a voter register and police security.