Unlike previous swearing in ceremony for newly elected Local Government chairmen, the Rivers State ceremony on Sunday has changed the narrative, becoming the first that a governor will be administering with none of the new elected council leaders coming from the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), nor any of the major political parties in the state.
As against previous ceremonies conducted in Rivers, the 2024 swearing in supervised by the governor, Siminalayi Fubara, had the Action Peoples Party (APP) having 22 Chairmanship seats, conceding one to Action Alliance (AA).
Aside from that, the governor also ensured that the swearing in event set another record of becoming the fastest ever conducted in the country with the event held less than 24 hours after the electoral body declared winner of the poll.
During the swearing in party witnessed by the Bauchi State Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bala Mohammed and precided over by Fubara, the council Chairmen were said to be confused after realizing that the governor wasn’t a member of the APP.
Source close to the governor’s office noted that many of the newly elected council chairmen disclosed that they were allegedly sponsored by the governor to spite the PDP leadership in the state after pulling pulled out of the electoral processes.
Addressing the council chairmen, Fubara said that the Local Government Council election is over, the State has entered into a season of transformation where democracy will not only thrive but the people shall witness delivery of democratic dividends that satisfy their aspirations.
He said that the pressure to destroy the Local Government system in Rivers became intense three days before Election Day when an attempt was made to invade the Headquarters of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
The Governor said, “But the truth remains, desperate situations require desperate measures. We were confronted with a situation where the local government of this State was heading to doom.
“And the truth about it is, because of the genuine love that we have for this State, we must salvage the local government election.
“And what we did, with the support of Rivers people, was to salvage the local government council. And to the glory of God, that has been done and dusted.”
Fubara said with the elections now over, the remainder of the years in office, his administration will not deploy any form of undemocratic ways to confront or fight anybody.
He assured that, rather, he will continue to use the means of peace to ensure that the assets of Rivers State are protected.
The governor said, “We will assure the Federal Government that we are not going to be party to anything leading to breakdown of law and order in this State.
“This is because we know quite alright that if there is breakdown of law and order in this State, Nigeria will suffer, and we are not going to be party to it. That is the reason why our standard, in terms of maturity, was high.”
Fubara, meanwhile, charged the newly sworn-in chairmen to ensure that they remain connected with the people in their council areas.
He urged them to emulate his approach to peace so that they can be more patient with people and the situation without being violent.
He added, “For the newly sworn-in Chairmen, I want you to see yourselves as servants. Once you see yourself as emperor, that is where the problem begins. Once you see yourself as the one who knows it all because of the power of the fund available to you, that is where you will start seeing crisis.
“But see this opportunity as a call to service. It is an opportunity for you to bring people together and to deliver to the people of Rivers State. We need development in the 23 local government areas.”