Tension gripped Port Harcourt City Local Government Council (PHALGA) in Rivers State on Wednesday as youths, loyal to Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, gathered around the council premises amidst a crisis over local government administration.
Police presence was heightened around PHALGA and other local council areas across the state to maintain order following reports of unrest.
Speaking to Channels Television, Maxwell Enwukwe, a former Council Executive and current coordinator of grassroots development initiatives in PHALGA, emphasized their commitment to ensuring peace and order.
“These are youths from Port Harcourt Local Government Council. We have come to ensure peace and order in our local government council because yesterday, we received information that some individuals gathered hoodlums to besiege the council even during a public holiday,” Enwukwe stated.
He further explained, “Today, we have come to see why that happened, but fortunately, the police have taken over the local government council premises, and everyone is here peacefully. These are supporters of grassroots development initiatives loyal to the Minister of FCT.”
Despite the police presence, the crowd remained stationed at the PHALGA environment, which is near the Rivers State Government House, indicating heightened tensions over the leadership dispute.
The crisis was triggered by the expiration of the tenure of local government chairmen in Rivers State on Tuesday, with conflicting claims over tenure extension by the State House of Assembly.
Governor Siminalayi Fubara has, however, maintained that there was no official extension of tenure and has proceeded to nominate caretaker committees for the 23 local government councils in the state.
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