BY Ayodele Oluwafemi
Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, has urged the newly elected LGA chairpersons in the state to emulate his approach to governance.
Fubara swore in the chairpersons on Sunday at the government house in Port Harcourt, the Rivers capital.
The Action Peoples Party (APP) won 22 LGAs in Saturday’s election while the Action Alliance (AA) was victorious in one LGA.
Fubara had recently directed his loyalists to defect to the APP to contest the election.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony, Fubara said there are plans to perpetrate violence against the elected officials when they resume their duties on Monday.
The Rivers governor urged the officials to be “patient and calculative”.
He admonished them to see their election as an opportunity to work for the people at the grassroots level.
“I’m aware that they are mobilising 20 people per unit to go and confront you tomorrow when you resume in your local government headquarters,” Fubara said.
“Please if they are coming with violence, avoid them.
“The peace of this state is too important to us. Everybody knows what they are planning but please I want to beg everyone to follow my approach.
“At the right time, you will always win if you are patient and calculative. We have made our promises to our people. We are going to lead them to the promised land.”
The Rivers governor said the controversy surrounding the Rivers LGA elections is effectively over.
CONTROVERSIAL LG POLLS
The build-up to the Rivers LGA elections was trailed by controversy which was exacerbated by conflicting court orders and pushback from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On September 4, a high court in Rivers state held that RSIEC could conduct the LGA elections using the 2023 voter register.
But on September 30, a federal high court in Abuja barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voter register to RSIEC.
The court also barred the inspector-general of police and the Department of State Services (DSS) from providing security for the elections.
Despite the federal high court ruling and the withdrawal of security personnel, Fubara said the election would proceed as planned.
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