A QUESTIONABLE COUNCIL POLLS

  A council election by the sole administrator will leave Rivers State in a muddle

In what we described as a treacherous borderline between impunity and political expediency at the time, President Bola Tinubu had on 18th March this year suspended the governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, for a period of six months in the first instance. Also suspended was the deputy governor, Ngozi Odu, and all members of the state House of Assembly. In place of the elected officials, the president appointed a retired naval officer, Ibok-Ette Ibas as the sole administrator. He predicated his action partly on “disturbing” security reports detailing incidents of vandalism of pipelines by some militants without the governor taking any action to curtail them. Although we did not explicitly oppose the decision, we nonetheless warned that emergency rule in Rivers State must not lead to a takeover of the political space by subterfuge. Unfortunately, that fear seems to have been confirmed by recent actions.

While swearing in Ibas, the president stated that “the state’s security situation and political tension necessitated intervention to forestall a total breakdown of law and order”. But five months after the declaration of emergency rule, there is little evidence that the objective of fostering stability and reducing tension in the state has been achieved. Rather than bring people together, many actions of the sole administrator seem to be deepening cleavages, contracting democratic space and leaving a huge question mark on the real purpose and endgame of the ongoing democratic interregnum in the state. The insistence on proceeding with council polls in the absence of a properly constituted state electoral commission is yet another example of the climate of escalating audacity.

Considering that emergency rule in Rivers State arose from bad politics, including the conduct of a toxic and contentious local government election last October by Fubara, why will Ibok-Ette deepen the crisis by conducting another local government election that is bound to end in acrimony? And where does he derive the power to undertake such assignment since Nigeria is still operating under a constitutional democracy? We align ourselves with the public statement of 22 prominent indigenes of Rivers State that the proposed local government elections by an unelected sole administrator is “an existential assault on our democracy and a brazen flouting of Nigeria’s Constitution.” We therefore urge President Tinubu not to lend his weight behind what amounts to an affront on the rule of law in the country.

It is simply not possible to strengthen democratic institutions while simultaneously undermining provisions of the Constitution. As many people have noted, the planned polls are not preceded by the statutory 90-day pre-election notification and many unresolved issues around the status and powers of the state administrator are being adjudicated by various courts.  The question posed by the Rivers State stakeholders in their statement cannot be ignored. It cuts to the heart of the matter. If the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “deems by-elections untenable under such conditions, how can local government polls-unrelated to any genuine emergency-be justified?” they asked.

With the executive and legislative arms on suspension, there are questions about the motives behind the idea of conducting the polls, especially at this period. Local government in the country is the third tier of government with specified constitutional provisions on how their chairmen and councillors should be elected. Therefore, the decision to organise the polls at this point is most insensitive, especially when the legality of having a sole administrator to run the state is still being challenged in court. The constitutionality of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) constituted by Ibas is also being contested.

Since the six-month emergency duration ends next month, the lifting of sanctions and full reinstitution of the state cabinet and House of Assembly ought to be the priorities of the federal government and Ibas. Until that is done, any conduct of local government elections would be an exercise in impunity. We urge the president to call the administrator to order. Rather than engaging himself in such unprofitable and divisive action, his focus should be on encouraging unity and deescalating tensions as the clock winds down on the tenure of his interim stewardship.