APC slams Rivers monarchs, urges President Buhari to disregard their request on disbandment of Joint Taskforce

The All Progressives Congress (APC), has has expressed shock over the involvement of traditional institutions in Rivers State under the leadership of Governor Nyesom Wike in the politics of the state, noting that such will not augur well fot them and the state.The APC therefore urged President Muhammadu Buhari to disregard the call by the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers to stop the activities of the Joint Taskforce on the movement of Agricultural Products and foodstuffs, set up by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, in the state. 

The Chairman of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, HRM. King Dandison Douglas Jaja, had tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Inspector General of Police, IGP Muhammad Adamu, to order over the Joint Taskforce, adding that the activities of the team would jeopardise the health of the people of the state. 

But, the South-South Zonal Secretary of the APC, David Okumgba, in a statement in Port Harcourt described the call as unnecessary, urging President Buhari to discountenance it. Okumgba said: “I consider this cry of the wolf a dramatic irony intended to plunge Rivers indigenes and residents into further economic hardship and psychological trauma. 

“Our people are already being strangulated by actions of Governor Nyesom Wike’s – cogitare facit- generalship in combating the novel virus. “Regrettably and with no intention of immodesty, an issue that constantly bugs my mind and that of well-meaning Rivers men and women is the latest outlook of our traditional institutions under the Wike administration.” He expressed shock over the involvement of Traditional Rulers in the politics of the state, adding that the council led by King Jaja appears to be under the supervision of Gov. Wike. 

“The said Joint Task Force the council attempts to stop by blowing a false alarm is an implementation of a joint communique reached on April 20th, 2020 by the Ministers of Defence, Interior, Police Affairs and Agriculture in furtherance to the COVID-19 Emergency Response directive of the Federal Government. 

“Federal directive empowers the various State Commissioners of Police, Commandants of the Civil Defence Corps and other relevant military officials to liase with concerned farmers’ associations and the National Union of Road Transport Workers under strict adherence to national security and health measures in line with COVID-19 safety guidelines.

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“Should the entire state suffer food shortage that may lead to untimely death or associated ailments simply because the council desires to massage the already bloated ego of Mr. Governor? he questioned. He enjoined the council to call the Governor to order, adding that his frequent conduct since the outbreak of the pandemic has remained a constant embarrassment to the people of the state.