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From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has approved the sum of N1 billion, for emergency relief measures to support flood victims in Ahoada West and Ogba/Egbema/ Ndoni Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State.
The governor empathised with the flood victims and also set up a taskforce to coordinate the distribution of relief materials to affected communities in the State.
Governor Wike said the N1 bllion approved by the Rivers State Government was to enable vulnerable families, particularly in Ahoada West and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGAs, which were the most impacted areas in the state, to cope with the devastating flood, which has inundated homes, farmlands and forced residents of affected communities to relocate to safer places.
The governor said the Permanent Secretary, Special Services Bureau (SSB) in the Office of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. George Nwaeke, would serve as the chairman of the Taskforce, while, Mrs. Inime I. Aguma, is the Secretary.
Other members of the taskforce were, the Chairman of Ahoada West LGA, Hope Ikiriko; Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA, Vincent Job; Chukwuemeka Onowu and the Director of Administration in the Ministry of Special Duties.
Members of the taskforce will meet with the State governor at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Rivers State governor has appointed 28, 000 Special Assistants for political units in the State and the appointments took immediate effect.
The governor had on Tuesday, 11 October, 2022, appointed 319 Ward Liaison Officers and 40 Local Government Area Liaison Officers.
In a related development, a socio-political group, known as One-on-One-Network, has raised the alarm over Tuesday’s appointment of 14,000 political advisers by the state governor.
The group warned that the move was “a subterfuge towards weaponising and unleashing political violence in Rivers State ahead of the 2023 general elections.”
A statement made available to the press by the Director-General of One-on-One-Network, LoveGod Nweze, pointed out that the appointment of the over 14,000 political advisers was part of a larger plan and in furtherance of the recent pronouncement of Executive Order 21 by the governor which has already set up a chain of condemnable activities to emasculate and strangulate perceived political opponents.
The group called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), international communities, civil society organisations and others to prevail on the governor in order not to set the state ablaze.
Nweze further appealed to security and law enforcement agencies to shun entreaties to compromise by weaponizing them as tools and agents for political witch-hunt.
