The governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has launched a scathing attack on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun over the controversy surrounding the conduct of local government election in the state.
The visibly angry governor spoke to journalists at the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) office in Port Harcourt on Friday morning, stressing that there appeared to be a more-than-professional relationship between the police boss and “someone who says he is more powerful than the state”, in an apparent reference to the Federal Capital Territory minister and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
The governor said, “The Inspector General of police should be ashamed of himself. I came here after learning that the police wanted to withdraw some policemen who had been stationed here. They are saying elections will not be held here because of a court order. Which court order says election should not hold?”
Insisting that the court did not say local government elections should not hold in the state, Fubara said, “No court order says election should not hold in the state. Even the court order the police said it got from the federal high court only said the police should not provide security. We do not need your security, it happened in Anambra, enough is enough.”
In reference to the ongoing political tussle in the state, the governor stated that he was ready to be shot by the police, saying, “The IG of police should take his fight and that can involve shooting Fubara, if that’s what he wants. This is the last fight and we will fight it to the end.”
The governor’s outburst came against the backdrop of the various controversies surrounding the conduct of the local government elections in the state.
On September 30, a Federal High Court in Abuja barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the 2023 voter register to RSIEC.
INEC also later said it had not released the voter register to RSIEC for the conduct of the election, in deference to the judgement of the federal high court.
Meanwhile, a Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt had ordered the RSIEC to proceed with the local government council elections scheduled for October 5.
Justice I. P. C. Igwe gave the order while delivering judgement in Suit No: PHC/2696/CS/2024, filed by Action Peoples Party (APP) as Plaintiff/Applicant against RSIEC, Rivers State Government, and Governor of Rivers State as 1st to 3rd Respondents.
In the certified court judgement issued on Friday, September 4, 2024, Justice Igwe directed RSIEC to use the 2023 voters’ register for the elections.
The court emphasised the importance of conducting elections within three months to fill vacant council positions, as mandated by the Supreme Court in Suit No SC/CV/343/2024 delivered on July 11, 2024, to the effect that all states without democratically elected local government councils in place should conduct elections into their respective local government councils within three months from the date of the aforesaid judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The court order maintained that based on the judgement of the Supreme Court, the defendants are bound to conduct elections into Local Government Councils in Rivers State on or before the expiration of the said three-month period, on October 5, 2024.
However, Governor Fubara has vowed to proceed with the election and has declared Thursday and Friday as public holidays.
He said, “Any failure on our part to conduct the local government election would be a clear disobedience of the Supreme Court’s mandatory order that no state government must administer the local government councils in Nigeria with unelected officers; with the attendant consequence of the state and the people being denied the statutory allocations due to the 23 local government areas of the state.”
