Rivers crisis: Fubara appoints caretaker committees for 23 LGAs, orders probe of former council chairs

Following the confirmation of the caretaker committee to oversee the activities of the 23 local government areas of Rivers by Victor Jumbo-led state assembly, Governor Siminalayi Fubara on Wednesday inaugurated new caretaker chairmen for the 23 local government areas of the state.

The Informant247 gathered that the Governor had forwarded the list to the state House of Assembly on Tuesday, and the nominees were invited for screening as early as 8 am on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the Clerk of the House, G.M. Gillis-West.

The nomination came amid a renewed political crisis in the state, as former council chairmen have refused to vacate their offices after their tenure expired.

It was learned that the swearing-in took place at the Executive Council Chambers of the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital, amid tight security.

However, Governor Siminalayi Fubara has ordered the audit of the accounts of the 23 Local Government Areas for the past three years, owing to the fact that the audit of the accounts is intended to serve as a check for the incoming chairmen and make the local councils more accountable.

Fubara also urged the caretaker chairmen to protect the interests of their people, not to see themselves as superheroes and to demonstrate that the government was right in appointing them while cautioning that their tenure would not be excessively long because the process for local government area elections would commence soon.

The governor also ordered a probe of the tenures of the outgoing local government chairmen, saying that the current events in the state are a product of democracy.

He warned against violence, stating that it is not his approach, urging the officials to sort out the salaries and entitlements of the outgoing chairmen.

Fubara explained that the fight against tenure extension is not just about the state but the entire country, as allowing it in one state could lead to it being replicated nationwide.

The governor pointed out that Rivers State was not doing anything unusual, as caretaker committees also run most states.