Wike warns new council chairmen against unauthorised loans

Rivers Assembly tasks Finima, Bonny communities on peace

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has cautioned the newly sworn-in chairmen of the 23 councils of the state against borrowing from banks without first clearing with the state government.

In a statement issued by his Special Media Assistant, Kelvin Ebiri, the governor said the warning became necessary to stem the unguarded desire of some council chairmen to access loans without clear development plans.

The governor stated this shortly after the elected chairmen took the oath of office at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday.

Wike charged them to pay proper attention to security issues with a view to stemming likely security breaches in their councils.

Specifically, he urged them to establish a robust working relationship with the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) and traditional rulers and ensure that they hold regular security meetings for proper briefings.

Speaking further, he warned them against embarking on needless journeys outside the state and the country without notifying the state government.

BESIDES, the Rivers State House of Assembly has urged youths of Finima Community and Bonny Kingdom in Bonny Council Area to sheathe the sword and give peace a chance in the council.

The Guardian recalled that youths in the two communities had engaged in a fight last week during a protest at the NLNG complex, which left some persons injured and some property destroyed.

Representative of Bonny Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Abinye Pepple, gave the advice in Port Harcourt, during a meeting to ensure peace is maintained in Bonny Kingdom.

Chairman of Finima Youth Council, Charles Brown, said they were ready to make peace, noting that their agitation was not against the Bonny Kingdom, but issues of recognizing Finima as host community of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).

Also, the Chairman of Bonny Youth Federation, Emmanuel Finecountry, promised to ensure that the prevailing peace in the kingdom was maintained.

But the Finima Community said it had severed all ties with the NLNG over its refusal to accord it the privileges of a host community, as prescribed by law.