RIVERS State Governor Siminalayi Fubara has insisted that the local government area election scheduled for Saturday, October 5, would be held in the state, despite a Federal High Court ruling stopping it, and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) withdrawal from the exercise.
Leading a team of his government officials and National Assembly members from the state to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) around 1 am on Friday, October 4, to foil an alleged attempted theft of sensitive electoral materials by some armed persons, Fubura blasted the police for backing out of the exercise.
He said, “Keep your security, I do not need it. It happened in Anambra State. This election must hold on Saturday. The result will be declared, the winners will be sworn in.”
Earlier today, The ICIR reported the police withdrawal from the exercise following the ruling by a Federal High Court in Abuja which ordered that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should not release the voters register to RSIEC and that the police must refrain from the election.
The ICIR reported how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members protested at the headquarters of the Rivers State Police Command and the head office of the State Security Service (SSS) in the state on Thursday, October 3 against the election, urging RSIEC and Fubara’s government to obey the Abuja court’s order.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) members also vowed not to participate in the exercise.
Meanwhile, Fubara said he was convinced that the July 2024 ruling by the Supreme Court granting autonomy to all 774 local government areas in the country was superior to the Federal High Court’s ruling.
Fubara also said Friday morning that local government elections were a state matter, adding that he was ready against all odds to ensure the RSIEC conducted the poll.
Fubara, Wike’s rift worsens
The planned poll has further worsened the crisis between Fubura and his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
Both leaders belong to the PDP but Wike is one of the leading cabinet members of President Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
The ICIR reports that Wike’s bid to control the PDP structure in the state has pitched him against a successor he helped to power.
The feud resulted in 27 out of the state’s 32 House of Assembly members defecting from the PDP to the APC.
Fubara has since worked with only five members loyal to him as the pro-Wike lawmakers battle for their seats at the Assembly and seek to impeach the governor.
Despite Tinubu’s intervention to resolve the impasse, the crisis has festered.
Multiple reports indicate that Fubara’s loyalists are vying for the LGA election on the All Peoples Party’s (APP) in a subtle move to defect from the PDP.
On Wednesday, October 2, The ICIR reported how Fubara declared a two-day public holiday for the poll.
Fubara said the holiday would enable the state’s people to travel to the communities where they would cast their ballots.
He also restricted human and vehicular movements in the state from midnight on Friday to 5 pm on Saturday.
History repeated, says senior journalist Richard Akinola
A senior journalist, Richard Akinola, said on his Facebook page on Friday that the Rivers saga was a history repeating itself.
Akinola wrote, “In 2003, Obasanjo was desperate to take over Lagos, using the INEC, police and the Army but Tinubu as governor, used both conventional and unconventional means to successfully resist him.
“In 2019, it was the turn of Amaechi to use the police and the military to take over Rivers State from Wike, who used every means, conventional and unconventional to resist him. Interestingly, it’s the same Wike that is trying to do what he resisted as governor against Fubara. History repeating itself. Interesting times.”
The Punch reported that protesters stormed RSIEC’s office on Friday demanding that the election must be held.
The protesters defied heavy downpours in the early hours to call on RSIEC to go on with the poll.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org