- Our Actions in Line With Court Order
By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has advised Governor Siminalayi of Rivers State to ensure tact and restraint are not thrown to the wind in the pursuit of his political goals and desire to conduct local government council elections.
The police said it remains neutral in the political feud engulfing Rivers State stressing that it’s uncharitable of Fubara to have accused the Force of taking sides with a party or faction.
This is contained in a statement issued by Muyiwa Adejobi, force spokesperson at the weekend.
The statement emphasized that the actions of police officers in Rivers state conform with a court order barring the force from participating or providing security in the local government elections in the state.
The statement is in reaction to Governor Fubara’s allegation that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, is conniving with his erstwhile ally and the immediate past governor, Nyesom Wike, to thwart efforts to conduct Local government elections in Rivers State.
The statement reads in part: “However, in the evening of 3rd October, 2024, the commissioner of police in Rivers state, received reports that policemen from Rivers state government house have been deployed to the office of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to aid the conduct of the election”
It continues:“This report was also relayed to the inspector-general of police who gave clearance to the commissioner of police to withdraw the policemen from the government house and replace them with policemen from the Command Operations department.
“The mandate of the men from the operations department was to provide overnight security for the RSIEC to prevent any attack on the facility.
“It is also important to note that prior to this, there had been a series of security breaches in the state following the spate of court orders and counter orders and reactions to them by supporters of the different political parties involved.
“The response of the command to secure RSIEC overnight was therefore professional and supported by the Inspector-General of Police.
“For emphasis sake, the policemen deployed to RSIEC from the operations department of Rivers State Command on the night of 3rd October, 2024 were with the sole mandate to protect the RIEC office from attack overnight.
“This action was proactive and responsive to intelligence at the disposal of the state command.
“It is therefore shocking to see the state governor storming the RSIEC office at night, wrongly accusing the police of lawful duties, deriding the police institution and using unprintable words to describe the Inspector-General of Police.
“The Nigeria Police takes exception to the unwarranted outburst of the governor and particularly the weighty accusations which he falsely levied against the inspector-general of Police and the entire Nigeria Police Force and advises caution and decency in the pursuit of individual political goals.”
The supremacy battle between Wike and Fubara took a strange twist in the early hours of Friday when some men dressed in police uniform reporyedly attempted to gain entry into the premises of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIE’C).
The attempt was reportedly botched by the quick intervention of Fubara and some security operatives who were informed of the incident in the nick of time.
There are insinuations that the botched attempt was meant to cart away electoral materials from the commission’s office
The rift between Fubara and Wike has fragmented the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the State into two camps.
The Wike faction and that of the incumbent governor, Fubara are now the dominant groups in the state PDP.
The Fubara faction are canvassing for local government elections to take place while Wike and his loyalists are insisting that the elections must not be held.
This contrasting positions have resulted in legal tussles with each faction obtaining court injunctions that suit their intentions.
On September 30, a federal high court in Abuja barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the 2023 voter register to the RSIEC.
The court also stopped the IGP and the Department of State Services (DSS) from providing security for the exercise.
On October 2, INEC said it had not released the voter register to RSIEC for the conduct of the election, in compliance with the verdict of the federal high court.
Governor Fubara has insisted on conducting the elections despite the withdrawal of police personnel by the NPF.
He cited Anambra local government elections as precedent, stressing that the state will provide its own security.
Fubara warned Egbetokun not to do anything that will disrupt the seamless conduct of the elections.
The governor also said he was prepared to take the bullets to ensure the conduct of elections if there’s a need for it.
Relying on a High Court Order in Rivers State which cleared the way and effectively gave nod to thr Rivers State electoral body to proceed with the conduct of the proposed local council polls, Fubara vowed to go ahead with the polls as scheduled.
