Former Local Government Chairmen in Rivers State have accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara of orchestrating an attack by hunger protesters on the Port Harcourt residence of his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
On Wednesday, the Ex-LG Chairmen, under the aegis of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers State chapter, warned that Fubara did not have a monopoly on violence and threatened to mobilise their supporters to target his properties in retaliation.
Recall that during a nationwide hunger protest on Tuesday, demonstrators marched to Wike’s house along Ada George Road in Port Harcourt, chanting war songs and hurling insults on the former governor.
The protesters were only held back by the presence of vigilant policemen.
Speaking at the ALGON meeting, former Emuoha Local Government Area Chairman, Dr. Chidi Lloyd, accused Governor Fubara of directing the protesters to Wike’s residence.
“We are aware that he (Fubara) directed the protesters to go to the residence of the minister. We will also organize our people and go to Forces Avenue where he is building on a 32-plot of land. Enough is enough,” Lloyd warned.
Continuing, he said, “Fubara does not have the capacity to cow anybody here. He knows it. And we know his properties and those of his cronies. All they have achieved has just been mountainous looting of Rivers funds. So he should be very careful. He wants to incite ethnic bigotry here. If what happened yesterday at Ada George repeats itself, Fubara will not even be here to govern the state.”
The Chairmen also demanded accountability from Fubara, questioning his use of the N238 billion collected between May and June.
“The protesters should gather in the government house and ask him what he has done with the N238bn he collected between May and June,” Lloyd added.
In response, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, dismissed the allegations, saying, “If you ask me, they have finished their tenure and have gone by our own law. So, what they are doing is meddling in what does not concern them. They are like ordinary citizens.”
Johnson described the protest as peaceful, noting, “I saw protesters who walked past the house of the FCT Minister and I saw a full presence of policemen. So, I don’t know what they are talking about.”
He also accused the former LG Chairmen of plotting to destabilise the state.
“They have been holding meetings being sponsored by former Ohio-Akpor Local Government Chairmen where they were charged to do everything to turn the protest into something that will culminate to a state of emergency. But all those attempts are the machinations of the wicked.
“What they are doing is like the last kick of a dying horse. They are already gone and the court has pronounced them as such,” Johnson said.
