Former Rivers Governor and current Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, yesterday attributed the cause of Monday’s mayhem in Rivers State to Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s disobedience of court order.
“The moment you don’t obey court judgment, you are inviting anarchy, you are inviting violence,” Wike said, alleging that Fubara once admitted that Rivers “was turning to a state” where the rule of law is not obeyed.
He spoke while featuring on a national television programme last night.
Fubara, speaking in Port Harcourt, said the withdrawal of policemen from local government secretariats encouraged “political miscreants” to go on the rampage.
Wike said: “I was a governor, I have always obeyed the rule of law. You heard the governor say that our state is turning to a state of anarchy where people do not obey the rule of law.
“You must obey the judgment of a court. You must not take the law into your own hands. The moment you don’t obey court judgment, you are inviting anarchy, you are inviting violence.”
He added: “And those who went to court, what did they do for the judiciary to settle disputes? And you came up as a governor to say, ‘No, this is a fraudulent judgment’, accusing judiciary of being fraudulent. ‘I will not obey this judgment. I will not. I will go ahead and do what I’m trying to do’.
“In that case, who is inviting violence? Who is inviting anarchy?”
Wike argued that by defying the court’s decision, Fubara has set a dangerous precedent, one that undermines the very fabric of democracy in the state and the nation.
