Former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has pointed fingers at his successor, Siminalayi Fubara, of being the reason behind the post-election violence that greeted the state following the local government elections.
According to the FCT Minister, Fubara incited the chao violence in the state following the controversial Rivers LG polls held on October 5, 2024.
Wike said this while appearing on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Tuesday night, emphasizing that Fubara disregarded a Federal High Court ruling that prohibited the elections due to procedural violations by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission regarding voter registration.
Wike said, “Who is the perpetrator of that violence? It is not about blaming, Governor (Siminalayi Fubara) is the architect of the violence.
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“If I know my supporters are linked to the violence I will condemn it.
“Governor (Fubara) said people don’t want to obey rule of law, law and order, what is law and order? What are people saying ‘obey court judgement’.
“All of you brought your case to the court, all of you brought your legal representation, your lawyers, Senior Advocates of Nigeria and the matter was argued and the court came up with judgement that ‘by my own view, by my own opinion, I think this is what is supposed to be done and therefore, I hereby say you should do this, you should do that’, fine! That’s court judgement. We want order.
READ ALSO: Wike Accuses Fubara of Fueling Violence in Rivers
“You heard the president, he said, ‘the judiciary can settle all political disputes’ and those who went to court what did they do? For judiciary to settle dispute.
“And you came out as a governor to say ‘No! This is a fraudulent judgement’, accusing judiciary of being fraudulent, ‘I will not o ey this judgement, I will not, I will go ahead and do what I’m going to do. In that case who is inviting violence? Who is inviting anarchy?” Wike asked.
On September 30, 2024,
Daily Report Nigeria recalls that Justice Peter Lifu had, on September 30, 2024, ruled against the RSIEC, stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission from releasing the voter register necessary for the elections.
The Court’s decision was based on RSIEC’s failure to comply with electoral laws, which require a 90-day notice before elections.
Against the ruling, RSIEC insisted on proceeding with the elections, citing constitutional mandates for local governance.
On the other hand, Governor Fubara publicly rejected the court’s decision, labelling it as fraudulent and asserting that he would proceed with the elections regardless.
His stance was supported by his administration, which argued that the elections were essential for restoring democratic governance in local councils.
The Rivers LG elections held as proposed by RSIEC with the Action Peoples Party (APP) winning 22 out of the 22 chairmanship seats in the state.
However, the outcome of the elections was marred by post-election violence that erupted on Sunday, which erupted amid accusations of electoral malpractice and intimidation.
Wike condemned this violence, asserting that if his supporters were involved, he would denounce them.
