The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, of being the main cause of the ongoing crisis in the state, asserting that he lacks a fundamental understanding of democratic principles.
The APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, described the allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the APC planned to forcibly take control of Rivers State as baseless and a figment of their imagination.
Felix Morka, in a statement, labelled the PDP’s claims as “ridiculous and baseless.”
Morka argued that instead of addressing the crisis constructively, the PDP misrepresented comments made by Tony Okocha, the chairman of the Rivers State APC Caretaker Committee.
He accused Governor Fubara of displaying a “reckless disdain for the rule of law and democratic institutions.”
Morka said: ”Governor Siminalayi Fubara is the supreme architect of the horrific crisis rocking Rivers state.
”Since assuming office over a year ago, Governor Fubara has displayed reckless disdain for the rule of law and democratic institutions and conducted his government in flagrant violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
”The Governor has continued to expend public funds without lawful appropriations by a duly constituted legislature thereby undermining the will of the good people of Rivers State and their right to effective and accountable democratic governance.
”Governor Fubara is an executive governor of crisis. A serious and focused governor would have set a clear programme to conduct local government elections given the established timeline for the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent elected local government officials.
”Rather, Governor Fubara sat on his hands and waited, idly, for their tenure to elapse in order to unleash a fresh round of thuggery and executive lawlessness on the people of Rivers state and, again, seeking to arbitrarily impose an illegal, unconstitutional and anti-democratic caretaker committees to run the affairs of local governments in place of a democratically elected local government officials.”
He also accused Fubara of usurping legislative powers and disregarding court orders, leading to the current instability in the state.