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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja, TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt and Seyi Babalola
About five persons have reportedly lost their lives following the post local government council election violence that erupted in Rivers State, yesterday.
The Action People’s Party (APP) won 22 local government areas while the Action Alliance won one. Governor Sim Fubara and FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, have been at loggerheads over the political soul of the state.
Daily Sun gathered that three youths were shot dead in Oyigbo Local Government Area, one in Ahoada East and another in Bori, the traditional headquarters of Ogoni people in Khana LGA.
Multiple sources claimed that many of the casualties were youths allegedly loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The deaths in Oyigbo LGA were seen in a viral video where somebody was heard saying in pidgin English, ‘Oyigbo, get as e bi.’
It was not immediately clear if the Bori incident is linked to the protest that rocked some LGs over the order of the police to unseal the secretariats of the 23 LGs which have been under lock and key in the last three months.
A source claimed that gunshots were heard near Bori and people started running in different directions.
“It was near Bori but I can’t say exactly where. A young man was shot and people started running. The man was rushed to the hospital this morning.”
The casualties were recorded a few hours after Police withdrew from council secretariats.
There has not been any official statement from relevant authorities concerning the reported deaths and other skirmishes that occurred in some LGAs.
Few hours after the Police unsealed the 23 local government Secretariat and ordered its personnel to vacate the areas with immediate effect, hoodlums set ablaze the headquarters of Eleme, Ikwerre and Emohua local government areas.
According to eyewitnesses, the attackers targeted specific buildings within the complex.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has called on Governor Fubara, political leaders and their supporters in Rivers to exercise restraint and uphold the rule of law.
The president, who expressed deep concern over reports of arson and explosions in the state, urged all political actors to de-escalate the situation and discourage their supporters from engaging in violence or destructive actions, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President, Information and Strategy, said in a statement.
He directed the police to restore and maintain peace, law and order immediately.
While instructing law enforcement agencies to bring the situation under control, he emphasised the need to ensure the security of public institutions.
Tinubu said government facilities built with public funds must be safeguarded from vandalism.
He stressed that self-help has no place in a democratic system, especially after 25 years of continuous democracy.
According to Tinubu, the judiciary can settle all political disputes, and the outcome of the election should be no exception.
•PDP govs reaffirms support for Rivers gov
The Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum (PDPGF), Senator Bala Mohammed, said Governor Fubara has proven himself a true democrat, who, against all odds, has pushed through with decisions and actions to deepen democracy.
Governor Mohammed said Fubara has done so by being proactive with an open mind, deploying his democratic instincts with strategies to carefully deliver democratic governance at the local government level, irrespective of party allegiance or consideration.
Senator Mohammed, who is also the Governor of Bauchi State, made the remark shortly after he witnessed the swearing-in of 23 democratically elected Rivers State Local Government Council Chairmen at the Executive Chambers of Government House in Port Harcourt on Sunday evening.
The PDP Governors’ Forum chairman affirmed that Rivers State is a PDP State, even if the just sworn-in local government chairmen and councillors are of different political parties.
Governor Mohammed bemoaned the situation, describing it as the problem that they have found themselves both as a party and as governors.
However, Senator Mohammed said Governor Fubara, who is the vice chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, is still a member of the PDP despite the fact that other parties constitute the body of elected officers at the local government level.
Governor Mohammed said it was inadvisable to ignore a sitting governor at the sub-national level because of the role he plays and the following he commands.
Responding to how soon the PDP will resolve its festering crisis and achieve desired unity, Governor Mohammed assured that it may seem prolonged, but quickly added that true reconciliation was in view.
Governor Mohammed emphasised: “And that is the more reason I am here. Governor Siminalayi Fubara is the Vice Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum. All the governors are with him, and certainly, we are taking steps to ensure reconciliation.
“Reconciliation with somebody who they had started with; the former Governor of this State and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is a must because, certainly, they have come a long way. We didn’t want to throw the baby away with the bad water.
“And certainly, the governors are with the Governor (Fubara) because this is our own tradition and fraternity; at the same time, out of our own political history as a party that has a history of governance.
“We are still stretching our arms of reconciliation to his mentor, to his friend and brother, and also our colleague,” he added.
• INC tasks Tinubu
The Ijaw National Congress (INC) Worldwide, has urged President Tinubu to pay close attention to political developments in Rivers to avert breakdown of law and order.
Prof. Benjamin Okaba, President INC, in a statement in Abuja, said the political tension in the state was capable breaching public peace and threaten democracy in the state.
“Rivers is of special interest to the INC as lots of ljaw people are indigenes of the state.
“The INC believes that the issues we are dealing with in Rivers are far beyond political godfatherism, but that of desperation for state capture by all means and at all cost.
“The extent to which some of the dramatis personae are going with their self-seeking adventurous activities is quite worrisome as it appears that they do not care if democracy is truncated in Nigeria.
“Local Government elections are not new in Nigeria. Indeed, it is a constitutional requirement that falls within the legislative purview of the states,’’ he said.
He said three states in Nigeria, Akwa-Ibom, Benue and Jigawa conducted local government elections at the same time as Rivers with less rancour.
“It bears questioning why the elections in Rivers attracted such desperation and attention to the extent that the courts and the Nigerian Police became over-interested participants in the drama,” the INC President said.
Okaba added that INC could not comprehend how a Federal High Court would restrain the Police from performing her constitutional responsibilities.
