The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives’ Congress, APC, has appealed to the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Joseph Fubara, to conduct Local Government election, to stabilize the state.
The Chairman CareTaker Committee CTC in the state Chief Tony Okocha, and members of the All Progressives Congress APC, made the appeal yesterday in press statement signed by one Chibike Ikengaon behalf of APC, the party once again, requested the intervention of Rivers people, particularly, the peace-loving citizens of the state, to ask Governor Fubara and his PDP conduct the local government election and free the state from the brewing disagreement with the Rivers State House of Assembly on the conduct of the Local Government Election, as the tenure of the current occupiers would be ending at about the 17th of June, 2024 after three years.
Chief Okocha noted that Governor Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly had been in a running battle over the conduct of the Local Government Election. This is part of the reasons for the protracted disagreement between the executive and the legislative arm of the government, which culminated in the destruction of the state Assembly Complex to prevent the House from carrying out its constitutional responsibilities.
“Furthermore, this issue was part of the agreement reached through the ‘Presidential Proclamation for Peace’ in Rivers State, through a peace process brokered by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
This has led the State House of Assembly to make/amend laws to avoid vacuum which in retaliation led to Gov Fubara withholding assent and the consequent override/vetoing the assent. This back and forth has continued unabated and has the potential of throwing the state into deeper crises of confidence with the ultimate breakdown of law and order.
The conduct of the local government election is an executive responsibility with legislative guidance (election laws/guidelines). The arms of government MUST cooperate to deliver on this and other responsibilities and no arm should aim at intimidating the other, the reason for the ‘Theory of Separation of Powers” he affirmed.
The CTC Chairman advised that to avoid heating up the political temperature, Governor Fubara is hereby requested to as quickly as possible direct the necessary, Commission(RSIEC), Department, Agency to commence the processes for the conduct of the local government election in the state.
“This singular action will vitiate the amendments/Overrides on the Governor’s assent which was done pursuant to avert vacuum, should the executive fail to conduct the election”, he said.
