PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement yesterday said the action of the Police was an affront to the ruling of the court. “It was curious that the Police allowed the dissolution of local government councils and appointment of caretaker committees in APC-controlled Plateau and Kaduna states, even when they were without the orders of the court, but elected to clamp down on that of Rivers State, which came as a result of judicial pronouncement,” PDP said.
It therefore urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to come out clean on the matter and assure the nation of the non-partisanship of the Police by ordering the immediate unsealing of the council's.
The party said Nigerians and the international community should note the development, which “is a yet another clear indication that the Nigerian Police may have become a partisan and compromised instrument in the hands of the APC federal government to destabilize PDP-controlled states, particularly Rivers State”.
Wike, at the inauguration of the reconstituted Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission and the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission at the Government House, Port Harcourt, condemned the action of the Police. “Yesterday (Thursday), we inaugurated the caretaker chairmen; the court dissolved the local governments. The court said the election was illegal and nullified the election. But you can see what is happening in the country today and that is the change everybody is talking about.
“The change the Nigerians expect is what we are seeing this morning. We woke up this morning and the Police have taken over all the council secretariats. They said that is the directive of the Inspector-General of Police. They said nobody should enter the councils. I knew this will happen, that is why I didn’t dissolve the councils”, Wike said.
He continued: “Plateau State government dissolved local government councils and nothing happened. Now, the court has nullified the election and Police said they will not obey court order. If I had dissolved the councils then, there would have been an excuse. Where did you derive your powers to dissolve the councils? So, that is the change Nigeria is expecting, and we have seen the change”.
The governor implored Rivers people to be patient and not to take the law into their hands. He described the police action as a temptation that obviously his administration would overcome. According to him, his political antagonists had expected him to dissolve the councils since he assumed office but that he decided to follow due process.
When contacted, the Police spokesperson, Ahmed Mohammad, said the reason for the police barricade was to protect lives and property. But the state Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Emmanuel Aguma, said the police might have been misinformed about the circumstance surrounding the nullification of the election that ushered him the sacked council chairmen. ngrguardiannews.com
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