Rivers APC Interim Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, has said the political crisis in the state will continue unless Governor Siminalai Hubara abides by the law.
Mr. Okocha stated this at a press conference on Friday in Abuja while reacting to the recent court ruling against the state on the disbursement of local government allocations.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday re-trained the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to further release allocations to states from the federal account to local governments.
In her judgment, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik found that Hubala’s presentation of the 2024 Budget in the four-member Rivers House of Representatives was in contempt of constitutional provisions.
She said Mr. Hubala’s receipt and disbursement of monthly allocations since January 2024 is nothing short of a constitutional violation that cannot be tolerated.
The judge further held that Mr. Hubala’s actions in implementing the illegal budget constituted a serious violation of the 1999 Constitution that he was sworn to protect.
Mr Okocha, in his response, said blackmailing President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike over the court verdict would not resolve the political crisis in the state.
He described Mr. Hubala as a political investment by Mr. Wike, who was a mere civil servant from relative political obscurity until he was elevated to political heights by the FCT Minister.
Okocha further said the governor was politicized and thrust into the limelight by Wike.
“Wike is in no way suffocating Hubala as is being said. Even if he psychologically blackmails President Tinubu and Wike over the recent court judgment, the law must be followed, so Rivers It won’t solve the case.
“We support the courts, we support the courts, we do not support the morality of the strong. It is not right for anyone to start claiming self-righteousness.
Mr Okocha said: “Mr Wike is innocent of the political crisis in Rivers and therefore should not be dragged into it.”
He said the only way to bring peace to the state is for Hubala to follow the law and abide by the court’s rulings, adding: “The law recognizes the facts presented, not emotions.”
“Wike led Hubala to where it is now. He took him from obscurity to the political pinnacle. No one is suffocating anyone. The battle for Rivers State is being fought between Hubala and “There is,” he said.
The APC chairman added that if Mr. Hubala had followed Mr. Tinubu’s intervention from the beginning, the political crisis would have ended long ago.
He said Hubala was running the state without an approved budget, which was in violation of the law. He said it is unfortunate that those who are stirring up unnecessary emotions and supporting the governor cannot understand the illegal activities taking place under his administration.
The way out of the political crisis, he said, is for governors to follow the laws of the land, including laws on the national budget.
“We use this opportunity to oppose any attempt to disrespect innocent people, namely the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. In all the cases that are being fought in the courts, they have about 32 years old, he is not a party to any of the lawsuits.
“If the governor had followed the judgment of Justice Omotoso. If he had listened to the recommendations of President Tinubu. If he had listened to the recent opinion of the Court of Appeal, all this would have gone away.” said Mr Okocha.
On recent attempts by some stakeholders and elders in the Niger Delta region to reconcile the gladiators of the Rivers crisis, Mr. Okocha said such moves were too slow.
Wondering where those elders were when the political crisis began, he added that there was no point in crying over spilled milk.
“As far as I’m concerned, the only hurdle to escape is the Supreme Court. If the elders really want to come, what are they doing here at this late hour?
“These are the same people who told the governor that he was a know-it-all and a jack-of-all-trades. They encouraged him to believe that his head was bigger than a pillow.
“They said the governor’s authority is resilient, and the governor agreed with that.”
Okocha added that most of the elders stuffed their stuff in their pockets while the governor was sitting on the hot seat and then disappeared into thin air.
