Mr. Tony Okocha, the Chairman of the caretaker committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has called on the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara to resign from his position, citing an alleged failure to deliver effective governance to the people of the state.
CityMirror reports that Okocha gave the call while addressing journalists yesterday, at the party’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Okocha claimed that Fubara was violating the Nigerian constitution by running the state without the use of a budget and has failed to carry out the conduct of local government elections.
Okocha, who also serves as the representative of Rivers State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) went on to accuse the governor of violating the constitution by withholding the monthly allocation of the 23 LGAs in the state.
Okocha stated, “The governor does not have power to withhold the monthly allocation to the 23 local government councils in the state.
He claimed it was wrong for the governor to meet with Heads of Local Government Administration on salary payment to workers without the knowledge of LGA Chairmen.
Okocha further accused the governor of running a one-man show. He claimed that the governor was not working with the Rivers State House of Assembly. He also alleged that Fubara was not working with the State Executive Council because he doesn’t hold meetings, and that he was not working with LGA chairmen.
He declared, “There is no governance in Rivers State. The present administration is clueless and has no direction. Governor Siminalayi Fubara has deviated from the consolidation and continuity mantra that brought him to power.”
In reaction to his claims, the Rivers State government stated that Fubara was great for the state and knocked Okocha for not knowing what was happening there anymore.
In a short message service (SMS) forwarded to LEADERSHIP, by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Warisenibo Joe Johnson, the government stated that, “Chief Tony Okocha has lost touch with the happenings in the state. Governor Sim Fubara is the best thing that happened to the state and majority of Rivers people are appreciative of his ability to rewrite the political history of the state.
He pointed out that the “noisy way” Okocha was used to, is no longer the way to go stating that they were rebuilding the entire state and the revival fire was sweeping through the entire 23 LGAs.
