The Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the opposition All Progressives Congress, Tony Okocha, has admitted that he was forced to go into hiding out of fear for his life until the proclamation of emergency rule in the state by President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday at the national secretariat of the party in Abuja, he maintained that the declaration of a state of emergency by President Tinubu saved Rivers State from anarchy.
Okocha, a die-hard loyalist of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, insisted that President Tinubu deserves all the plaudits for taking the decisive step at the nick of time.
“People like us could hardly leave certain places because we were hiding for fear of the unknown as non-state actors brandished guns and made statements tailored toward anarchy and lawlessness. We all knew there was a looming problem before the President intervened.
“We all know that Rivers State is one of the states that sustain this country. Some of these people shouting that the President did wrong when he stepped in would have also said, ‘You had this decision at your fingertips and did nothing,’ if things had gone out of hand,” he said.
The APC chieftain, who frowned at former President Goodluck Jonathan for criticising President Tinubu over the measure, described the emergency rule in the state as a necessary evil that would surely restore normalcy.
“Security and intelligence have been beefed up in Rivers since the state of emergency was declared. With the emergency declared, people like us who are in the opposition in the state can now move around,” Okocha said.
Okocha said, unknown to many, Wike had been working behind the scenes to make peace with Governor Fubara, who he claimed allowed self-centered politicians in the state to mislead him.
Citing the Supreme Court judgment ahead of the declaration, Okocha said the political crisis in Rivers became inevitable since there was no way Governor Fubara could administer the state without the legislative arm in place.
“The governor jettisoned 27 lawmakers and was dealing with only three lawmakers while withholding the finances of the State Assembly, which was abnormal. It was a misnomer, unheard of in a democracy, to have 12.5 percent of legislators in place to run the government. The governor also pulled down the State Assembly under the guise of renovating it due to structural defects without prior notice, which was an affront to democracy,” he added.
He supported the decision by the People’s Democratic Party to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the declaration of emergency rule in Rivers State, saying it would enrich the country’s jurisprudence.
He also challenged the Nigerian Bar Association to follow suit after failing to speak out when the State Assembly complex was allegedly pulled down on the orders of Governor Fubara.