&w=64&q=75)
Amid the escalating political crisis in Rivers State, the local branch of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has urgently requested the declaration of a state of emergency.
Chief Tony Okocha, Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee, made this during a press conference in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, June 19.
“Rivers State is at war. And the dramatis personae who are responsible for the mayhem that has claimed lives are known.
“The governor is helpless, the police bias helpless. Therefore the APC in Rivers State is calling for a state of emergency in Rivers State as a way of taming the mayhem, and the upsurge that is going on in the state.
“I call on the federal government to act fast in this regard,” he stated, according to Punch.
Group blasts Rivers APC, seeks Tinubu’s intervention
In reaction to Okocha’s appeal, the Concerned Citizens Forum of Nigeria (CCFN) condemned the Rivers State chapter of the APC for its undemocratic call.
The group said the APC’s move is a deliberate and calculated manoeuvre aimed at exacerbating the existing instability in the region for political expediency.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday in Abuja, Executive Director Dr Ekeanyanwu Promise said the current crisis in the local government system results from the APC’s internal contradictions and mismanagement and declaring a state of emergency would undermine democratic governance.
According to Promise, implementing such a measure would only erode the populace’s trust in the democratic process, further disenfranchising the people of Rivers State and potentially exacerbating the existing tensions.
Meanwhile, the group urged President Bola Tinubu to sanction a comprehensive investigation into the APC’s involvement in the security breaches in Rivers State and hold them accountable for any wrongdoing.