The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State chapter, has called on the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government to declare a “state of emergency” in the state over the escalating political crisis in the state.
The party made the demand during a press briefing in Port Harcourt, the state capital on Wednesday which was presided over by its Caretaker Committee Chairman in the state, Tony Okocha.
Okocha said that the state was at war, stressing that those causing the war were known and that the crisis in the state had overwhelmed the Governor, Siminalayi Fubara and the police, making them helpless.
“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 are helpless. Therefore the APC in Rivers State is calling for a state of emergency in Rivers State as a way of taming the mayhem, the upsurge that is going on in the state. I call on the federal government to act fast in this regard,” Okocha said.
The call comes as the political atmosphere in Rivers State became more heated since Monday following the sacking of the 23 local government areas chairmen by the governor.
The local council chairmen, some of whom are loyal to the immediate past governor of the state and current Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, whose three-year tenure expired on Monday refused to vacate their seats.
The state has since been thrown into chaos with massive protests across the 23 local government areas.
