CSOs ask UN to sanction Nigeria over Rivers crisis 

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has accused President Bola Tinubu of putting Rivers State under military dictatorship. The group alleged that selfish interests by some politicians from the state are being put first above the interest of the majority of Rivers people. 
  
The IYC, through its Secretary General, Maobuye Nangi Obu, in a statement yesterday, tackled the Sole Administrator of the state, retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, of allegedly contradicting the law by suspending appointees of an elected governor.
  
According to the group, the suspension of commissions and boards with clear tenures in the state is an affront to the rights of Rivers people. The group raised the alarm that the actions of the administrator showed he is allegedly executing the agenda of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, maintaining that the battle is for the economic soul of the state.
  
“It was President Thomas Jefferson who said we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men.
  
“The latest announcement by Ibas suspending statutory commissions and boards with clear tenures in Rivers State is an affront to the rights of Rivers people and nothing short of a full-blown military dictatorship in action.”
  
The IYC noted that by suspending the Secretary to the State Government, the Chief of Staff, Commissioners, board members, and Special Advisers, the administrator has effectively crippled the state’s democratic governance, leaving it at the mercy of a few handpicked loyalists willing to do Wike’s bidding.

MEANWHILE, the United Nations (UN) has been asked to sanction Nigeria if the country fails to restore democracy in Rivers State immediately.  The demand was made yesterday by a coalition of about 30 civil society organisations who met in Port Harcourt to file a petition to the Secretary of the Human Rights Committee of the UN at 760 United Nations Plaza, Manhattan, New York, United States of America.
  
In the petition filed by Egondu Esinwoke (Convener) and Courage Nsirimovu (Coordinator), the coalition asked the UN to prevail on President Bola Tinubu to restore democratic governance in Rivers or place sanctions on Nigeria for defaulting in its obligation to promote democracy and democratic institutions within its territory. 
  
The petition also urged the UN to advise the President to limit his actions within the confines of the nation’s Constitution, which, they said, is the ultimate law and from whence he derives his powers and authority.