1 month ago
16 ARTICLE AD
The leader of the Ijaw nation, Chief Edwin Clark, has described the crisis in Rivers State as a fight between the forces of good and evil, adding that the outcome of Saturday’s local government elections in the state, proved that the crisis had no ethnic bias.
He therefore called on all concerned to put the past behind them and forge ahead.
The elder statesman stated this in a message on Monday, where he congratulated President Bola Tinubu and Governor Siminalayi Fubara on the successful conduct of the LG poll, and urged residents of the state to look forward to a new future.
“One major lesson from the outcome of this election is that the political crisis that has tormented the state in the past year has no ethnic bias. Rather, it is a fight between evil and good, truth and lies. Let them now put the past behind them and forge a new future”, he said.
Clark’s comments follow the swearing-in of the newly elected local government chairmen at the Executive Council Chamber of the Rivers State Government House in Port Harcourt on Sunday, following the conduct of the elections on Saturday in which the Action Peoples Party secured 22 of the 23 chairmanship seats and 314 of the 319 councillorship seats in the 23 LGAs in the state.
However, factions of the People Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress, rejected the conduct and outcome of the LG election, stating that no election was held in the state.
Clark however commended the peaceful state-wide LG election, noting that there had never been an election where the police were not involved, without significant amounts of expended public funds.
He called on the Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission to investigate the recent Edo State governorship election in which 40,000 police officers were deployed, “followed by complaints and contestations at different levels.
“The fact that a statewide local government election can be conducted in a free, fair, and credible manner without the loss of lives and destruction of property is a remarkable experience.
“This is a significant and commendable development because there has never been any election, be it presidential, state, or local government, where the security agencies, particularly the police, were not involved, with significant amounts of public funds expended.
“How do we reconcile this with the recent governorship election in a neighbouring Edo State where over 40,000 officers and men of the Nigerian police force were deployed, at a huge cost to the government, followed by complaints and contestations at different levels?
“I suggest that the Federal Government, and indeed, the Independent National Electoral Commission, should thoroughly examine this development to find ways to reduce the high electoral expenditures in the country.”
He commended Tinubu and Fubara for creating a suitable environment for the conduct of the elections as well as the newly elected officials, for their success in the polls, and expressed hope that the LG polls “will be replicated in all the states of the federation, with minimal security involvement, devoid of unnecessary intrigues and interference.”
