LG polls: Anxiety in Rivers as Fubara, Wike’s camps spoil for war

• PDP, APC Insist On Postponement Of Polls, Cite Court Order
• Elections Must Hold As Scheduled – Gov Fubara
• Accuses Police Of Breaking Into RSIEC Office To Steal Sensitive Materials

The political atmosphere in Rivers State has become very tense and chaotic as loyalists of both Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and Governor Siminalayi Fubara have drawn a battle line over the planned conduct of the local council elections in the state on Saturday, October 5.

While the camp of the minister comprising his supporters in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have vowed that the elections would not hold, Governor Fubara and his team have maintained that there is no going back.

The refusal of both camps to shift ground has resulted in desperate moves to accomplish their agenda. However, the two parties are holding on to the various court orders they received to drive home their missions.

The development has forced residents to express deep concerns about their safety if the election eventually holds.  The camp of the minister, led by the APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Tony Okocha, and the state PDP Chairman, Aaron Chukwuemeka, anchored their actions on the judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and all security agencies to shun the Rivers council elections.

Justice Peter Lifu, in the ruling, ordered INEC not to release its 2023 Voter’s Register to the Rivers State Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the polls, saying legal requirements were not met.

But Fubara is holding on to the ruling by the Rivers State High Court, which directed RSIEC to proceed with the local council elections scheduled for October 5.

The court, in the suit marked PHC/2696/CS/2024, filed by the Action Peoples Party (APP) against INEC and presided over by Justice I. P. C. Igwe, ordered RSIEC to use the 2023 Voters’ Register for the elections.

The court explained that the Rivers State government and the governor are bound by Section 7, Sub-section 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) 1999, as amended, to ensure that local councils are run by democratically elected officials.

Also, relying on the judgment of the Supreme Court, which ordered all local councils in Nigeria to end the caretaker committee system; and a directive by the Federal Government that all caretaker committees must end before October 15, 2024, Fubara has declared that the polls must hold.

Amid the growing controversy and tension, a group suspected to be loyal to the minister, again approached a court contesting the legitimacy of the APP chairmanship position held by Sunny Wokekoro, an ally to Fubara.

Recall that the 23 local council chairmanship candidates loyal to Fubara are contesting under the Wokekoro-led APP.  The plaintiffs, Destiny Emereji and five others, in a suit against APP and 27 others, are seeking the reinstatement of Wokekoro’s predecessor as the authentic state chairman of APP and asking for Wokekoro’s removal, arguing that any actions taken by him should be declared null and void.

Aside from Wokekoro,  some top figures backing Fubara include former Governor Peter Odili; former PDP Chairman, Uche Secondus; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Opara; Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo;  former governorship  candidate  of Accord Party, Dumo Lulu-Briggs; Celestine Omehia, Asari Dokubo, among others.

Fubara Unperturbed 
Appearing unperturbed by the multiple court orders and the brewing crisis, Fubara has expressed concerns that people, who earlier subscribed to the fact that parties are only vehicles that convey people to positions of leadership in a democracy and had boasted to win all elective positions in the 23 local councils if elections are conducted, are now scared to participate in the polls.

He gave assurance that any attempt by anybody or group of people to disrupt the democratic process that is genuinely pursued in the state would be fought by the gods of the land.

Fubara alleged that mercenaries had been engaged within and outside the state to obstruct the elections, warning that such mercenaries would be adequately resisted.

He maintained that with God on the side of the state, and necessary information provided to relevant authorities involved in the election, the exercise will be held and the elected officers sworn-in to discharge their responsibilities to the people at the grassroots.

Speaking during a world media briefing at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Friday, he said the state was fully prepared for the exercise irrespective of police withdrawal from the polls.

The governor, who said he could sacrifice his life for the right thing to be done  in Rivers State like Martin Luther King did for his people, threatened  that any attempt by anyone, groups or  security agencies to stop the election would be resisted.

He said:  “We are prepared to make sure that we resist them. We will not put Rivers State in the state of anarchy where the system of local government administration will be suspended because of the protection of one person’s interest.

“Let me also say this – the election on Saturday is sacrosanct. We must work together to make sure the election holds. We will also make sure the election holds and the winners of the election will be sworn in and they will commence their activities of administering the local government areas.”

Fubara said he was not crying to the international community for help but only urging the world to know that once in a while, people need to stand up on the side of the truth even if it will take life.

He, however, thanked Rivers people who came out in the early hours of Friday to support the government to tell the Nigeria Police that enough was enough. Earlier, Fubara’s Chief Press Secretary, Nelson Chukwudi, disclosed that the governor foiled an early morning attempt by the police to take control of the RSIEC on Friday, October 4, 2024.

In a statement, Chukwudi disclosed that at 1.00am, a team of policemen led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) attempted to breach the commission’s gates and strong room to seize sensitive electoral materials intended for the local council elections.

The deployment was said to have been ordered by the Inspector-General of Police . The statement reads in part: “Governor Siminalayi Fubara has foiled an attempt by the Nigeria Police, led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), to take over the RSIEC at 1.00am on Friday, October 4, 2024.

“The rogue policemen were said to have attempted to scale through the gates and strong room of the Commission to cart away sensitive electoral materials meant for the conduct of Saturday’s local government election in the state.

“However, the evil plots of the rogue policemen and DC Ops were botched when vigilant security officials alerted principal officers of the Commission and relevant government authorities, who immediately informed the governor of the development.

“The governor immediately led a team of government officials, lawmakers from the National Assembly and State House of Assembly, top political stakeholders, and other leaders to storm the facility.”

APC And PDP’s Position 
However, the APC and PDP in the state have declared that they would not sit and watch Fubara steer the state into lawlessness.

The APC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Okocha said, “the party is eligible to contest elections and ready to participate in the exercise but they decided not to contest under circumstances where the court has flawed the processes.”

Okocha alleged that Fubara and his supporters want to bungle the entire exercise, adding that elections under such a circumstance would be a charade because, according to him, the governor was pushing his personal agenda.

The PDP in Rivers State also on Friday issued a strong warning against any attempt to conduct local council elections on October 5, 2024, contrary to the Federal High Court’s judgment.

The PDP emphasised that nobody should participate in or allow the conduct of any local council elections that deviate from the court’s judgment. The PDP State Chairman, Aaron, while addressing a press briefing at the state secretariat of the party, emphasised that participating in or conducting elections contrary to the court’s judgment would be unlawful. He urged citizens to disregard any announcements calling for local council elections on October 5, citing a Federal High Court judgment that halted the polls.

Aaron, while reiterating the party’s commitment to upholding the rule of law, added that both the RSIEC and the state government could not choose which court orders to obey or ignore.  He called on the state governor, a PDP member, to comply fully with the court’s judgment.  He said: “The PDP, having reviewed all the cases relating to the local government elections, concludes as follows:

“We cannot support or promote lawlessness, or impunity in any form whatsoever even though we are the ruling party in Rivers State.

“The proper court judgment must be obeyed as we cannot choose which order of the court to obey and not to obey. “We, therefore, call on the Rivers State governor, who incidentally is a member of our great party, the PDP, to obey and comply wholly and strictly with the judgment of the Federal High Court in line with our character and ethics of our party and suspend the planned October 5 local government elections in Rivers State.”

Aaron commended the INEC for standing by the truth and complying with the court’s judgment, saying INEC had clarified that it did not release the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), a critical requirement for the elections.  He also commended the Nigeria Police for standing by the Federal High Court judgment. Aaron, however, cautioned that announcing election results despite the suspension would be considered an invitation to violence.

INEC, RSIEC Bicker Over Release Of Voters Register  
Meanwhile, the INEC and RSIEC were bickering over the release of voters’ register. While the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr. Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem, said the commission has not handed over the state voters’ register to RSIEC, the Chairman of RSIEC, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, confirmed that they received the document from INEC a long time ago.

Sinikiem explained that the state INEC office had received two requests from RSIEC for the voters’ register, but stated that a court order from the Federal High Court, Abuja, stopped the commission from heeding the request. Piqued by the statement, chairman of RSIEC, Enebeli, revealed that the commission had received the voters’ register from INEC before the legal issues started.

Speaking during the flag-off of the display of voters’ register at Ward 2 Unit 10 in Rumuodara Town Hall in Obio-Akpor Local Council of the state, he stated: “The 6th Commission under my charge is very proactive. A wise man can never be taken unawares.

“We are proactive; we follow due process. Even before the cases went to court we had liaised with INEC; the correspondences are there. That is it. It is the gift of patience, planning. “I’m not a last minute man. I plan ahead. And so all these things were concluded since last year; the correspondences are there.

“The display of register will be carried out in all the 6, 866 polling units in the 23 local government areas of Rivers State.”  Also, a RSIEC Commissioner, Pastor Tamuno Tobins, alleged that INEC must have spoken under undue influence.

Displaying a copy of the voters’ register while granting an interview to a radio station in Port Harcourt last Wednesday, the RSIEC Commissioner said: “Here is a copy of the document; my position on the voters’ register is just the truth and nothing but the truth. If they are coming to claim that they have not given RSIEC the voters’ register, that is just an afterthought; I don’t know where that is coming from.”

Tobins stated that, “undue influence cannot be ruled out with the sudden change by INEC,” stressing that the court is the final place to determine who is saying the truth with evidence.

He also gave the assurance that the local government elections would be conducted as scheduled.  On Friday, there was a report that Enebeli had resigned from office but The Guardian confirmed that it was false.

Residents Express Fear Over Security  
THERE is, however, palpable fear and anxiety among residents following the political developments in the state. The residents are concerned about their safety and security during the elections considering that the state is notorious for election violence.

Speaking with The Guardian, some residents said they have their voters’ cards but they would not come out to vote over security threats.  Michreal Barine, a resident  in Mile I, Diobu in Port Harcourt City Local Council, said: “I have a voter’s card but I will not go and  vote for anybody because with  what  is playing out, we don’t  know  if the election  will  hold and if it eventually holds, there’s no guarantee for security.”

Speaking in the same vein, Mrs. Benadeth Chuku said: “I have a voter’s card but I don’t think I can participate because of insecurity. The last governorship election was horrible here in Rivers State.”

However, Agatha Ihejirika said: “Even though our votes do not count, I have a polling unit at Rumoaholi; I will go and cast my vote.”  A policy and public affairs analyst, Sunny Dada, said that Fubara’s political future would be determined by the contest over the soul of the PDP’s structure in Rivers State and not by the council elections.

Dada, while tracing the history of politics in the state, noted that governors and politicians who move from the mainstream to a new or relatively unknown party rarely survive.

“While the political gulf between Wike and Fubara continues to widen, it is also seriously taking its toll on governance and PDP, weakening its strength and providing no direction to the members. The members are torn between Wike and Fubara. Also at the national leadership, the governors and officials of the party are singing different tunes, an indication that the crisis may not be resolved too soon.

“If PDP is not participating and fielding candidates in an election supposedly being organised by a governor it produced, it sends strong negative signals of what its future holds in the state. There are feelings that the crisis would create a situation that would make it difficult for PDP to win elections in Rivers State again,” he said.

A lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Obinna Nwodim, however, observed that the festering crisis was hampering developments.  He also noted that the political squabbles have created an atmosphere of bitterness and chaos, thus affecting investments in the state.

“There is no development that can come in an atmosphere of bitterness and rancour. What is happening here currently is exacerbating the sufferings of the people whether we like it or not. Despite what the governor is doing, there is no peace, and there is no way he can think straight in the midst of these crises. He might pretend to be thinking but he is not,” he said.