The Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Robinson Ewor, has said the sole administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), appointed for the state has been doing nothing.
Naija News reports that Ewor said there was no justification for President Bola Tinubu’s state of emergency in Rivers State.
In an interview with Arise News, on Wednesday, Ewor noted that the crisis in the state was Nyesom Wike’s desire to control Governor Siminalayi Fubara, all resources and structures of the state.
He argued that the President’s action did not meet any of the Constitution’s requirements. He stated that Rivers State did not require a state of emergency.
“As a party, as a people, as citizens of the state, we condemn that proclamation, the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers State. Because if you go to the Constitution, what I’m holding is a copy of the Constitution. Section 305 set out the conditions that the state of emergency can be declared. One of it is that the state, the Nigeria, must be at war. Or two, there must be imminent danger of war to happen in this country. Three, that there is a likelihood of total breakdown of law and order. Or there is a total breakdown of law and order. Going forward, the governor can request, if there are prevailing situations in the state, that you require a declaration of state of emergency to the president.
“None of these conditions is prevalent in Rivers State, as we speak. You cannot find one, a single one of them, listed in Section 305 of the Nigerian Constitution. The question is, where and how did the President arrive at the declaration of his state of emergency? All the things that are happening in this state are known to everybody, both journalists, non-journalists, both citizens and those residents in Rivers State. Everybody knows the crisis in River State,” he said.
The Problem In Rivers State
The PDP Chairman alleged that Wike, who allegedly sponsored Fubara’s governorship ambition, House of Assembly members, House of Representatives members and Senators, desired to be in charge of the state, its resources and its political structure.
He decried that the President failed to understand the real problem of the state, even though he had enough intelligence at his disposal.
“The crisis in River State is that FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, said he assisted Sim to be Governor of the state. He assisted the state House of Assembly to be elected. He assisted the senators and he assisted the House of Representatives members. For this reason, that he wants to have control of both the governance of the state, the structure of the party in the state, and the resources of the state. This is the condition in the state.
“The President by now should have had enough intelligence to tell him that the situation in Rivers State is pure disagreement between former governor and current governor over control of resources, not the issue of crisis. For this reason, he said he helped the Assembly to be elected. He holds on to the Assembly. The Assembly is no longer working for the state. The Assembly is working for him, FCT Minister.
“If you look at the House of Reps, we have 13 House of Reps. It’s only five that he’s talking with the Governor. The rest of them are with him (Wike). The three senators, none of them is talking to the Governor. They are talking with Nyesom Wike. So what exactly does Nyesom Wike want in this state? Control of resource, control of structure, control of the Governor.
“The President should have enough intelligence. We don’t have any crisis in this state. As we speak, a state of emergency has been declared. The sole administrator is here. Tell me where there is crisis in this state as we speak. The sole administrator doesn’t have any work in this state because there is no emergency anywhere,” he stated.
The Sole Administrator Is Doing Nothing
Ewor stressed that the security agencies deployed to the state since the state of emergency was declared have been doing nothing.
According to him, Vice Admiral Ibas has not found anything to do because of the peaceful state of Rivers. He further questioned the President’s right to remove Governor Fubara, even in a state of emergency.
He continued, “River State is as peaceful as the water. What is the Sole Administrator doing now? Removing the Secretary to the State Government and appointing a new one. Asking the head of service to resign and appoint a new one. Asking the head of local government to come and submit activities of local government. Asking existing structure, civil servants, to show what they are doing at the local government in the past two years. Is it the emergency? There is no deployment of Police, Army, Navy, Air Force anywhere to show you that there is an emergency. I was at the State Headquarters of the Police two days ago. All the police they deployed to the state, they are sleeping. They are suffering. They can’t be deployed to anywhere because there is no emergency.
“So for the president to declare the emergency in the first place is an anomaly. It’s unacceptable to us and it’s not in consonance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic. And going further, even if the Constitution gave him the power to declare emergency, the Constitution did not give him the power to suspend or sack a sitting governor or the state House of Assembly. We condemn it. We reject it in its totality because none of the conditions listed by the Constitution is existent in Rivers State.”
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