Southern governors have lent their voices to the position of their Rivers counterpart, Siminalayi Fubara, on the crisis rocking the state arising from the tenure of local government officials.
The issue is one of the consequences of the bad blood between Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.
The factional Speaker of the State House of Assembly loyal to the Federal Capital Territory minister extended the elected officials’ tenure by six months to the displeasure of the governor who upon expiration of the chairmen and councillors’ tenures appointed caretakers.
The governors from South under the Southern Governors Forum (SGF) weighed in on the matter on Monday at a meeting of the group in Abeokuta during which the host governor, Dapo Abiodun was appointed the forum’s new Chairman as a replacement for former Ondo State governor, late Rotimi Akeredolu.
Abiodun on Monday night appeared on a national television where he related the forum’s positions on some issues.
He said of Rivers crisis bordering on elected local government officials’ tenure extension, “On local government administration, it is a constitutional issue that will be put to rest at a point in time.
“When your tenure has expired, it stands to reason that your tenure has expired.
“It is not up to the governor of that state or anybody else to extend the tenure of the local government chairmen.
“The collective position of the governors is that it would be a dangerous precedent and an abuse of the democratic ethos for the tenure of an elected local government chairman to expire and for anyone to imagine that their tenure can be extended by one day.
“I think that puts that matter to rest. If that is not the case, that becomes a precedent, a reference point, and the thing is that somebody will ask for a tenure extension.
“Our democracy has evolved and we should not do anything to truncate the process.”
At the meeting were: Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, who was named Vice Chairman, Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Biodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), Alex Otti (Abia), Godwin Obaseki (Edo) and Ademola Adeleke (Osun).
Others are Bassey Otu (Cross River), Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi), Peter Mbah (Enugu), Duoye Diri (Bayelsa) and Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom).
Deputy Governors Chinyere Ekomaru (Imo), Monday Onyeme (Delta) and Olayide Adelami (Ondo) represented Hope Uzodimma, Sheriff Francis Orohwedor Oborevwori and Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
Rivers State Governor, Similayi Fubara, was absent and was not represented.
