Rivers ALGON chair seeks presidential intervention to halt planned labour protest

Hon. Allwell Ihunda, the Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), has pleaded with President Bola Tinubu and the national body of organised labour to stop members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from staging a protest he claims is sponsored.

He also claimed that the Rivers State chapter of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and labour have been infiltrated by agents of the State Governor Siminalayi Fubara who allegedly offered NLC and ALGON membership of caretaker committee appointments.

The Guardian can’t verify Ihunda’s claims but he made these assertions while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

He said: “ALGON Rivers State Chapter has become aware of the orchestrated plans of the leadership and members of NULGE Rivers State and its collaborators to destabilise the fragile peace prevailing in Rivers State on Monday the 24th day of June, 2024 by storming and attacking the police officers stationed at the various council secretariats in Rivers State under the guise of protesting against the presence of the officers of the Nigerian Police securing the council premises.

“This plan which was conceived, fertilised and hatched by the officials of NULGE in collaboration with the officials of the Rivers State Government under the leadership of His Excellency, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, is designed to over-awe the Nigerian Police and chase them away from securing the council secretariat so that the illegal caretaker committees recently appointed and sworn in by the Governor of Rivers State to operate from anywhere can break into and take over the Council Secretariats and give themselves the cover of legitimacy using the council secretariats.

Governor Fubara during the swearing-in ceremony of the Local Government Council Caretaker Committee Chairpersons.

Governor Fubara, last week Monday, swore-in 23 Local Government Council Caretaker Committee Chairmen, a move that was necessitated by the expiration of the three-year tenure of the former elected council chairmen on June 17 2024. The erstwhile council chairmen were elected during Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration.

Ihunda continued: “These individuals and those who are priming them to be used for the pursuit of this devious scheme do not seem to care about the well-being of the people of Rivers State and the imperative for the preservation of peace, law and order in Rivers State.

“NULGE has been infiltrated and compromised by the Governor of Rivers State and its officials and unsuspecting members are now being hoodwinked and drafted into fighting, under the guise of protest, as foot soldiers to promote the divisive partisan private interest of the Governor.

“Against this background, we want to use this medium to once again call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the Federal Government of Nigeria to intervene by calling the Governor of Rivers State to order with a view to avoiding a breakdown of governance, law, and order in Rivers State.

“We call on national leadership of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and all well-meaning Labour and Trade Unions as well as Civil Society Groups to take proactive steps to prevail on the NULGE officials in Rivers State to jettison the planned protest and confrontation with the Nigerian Police which may plunge our dear Rivers State deeper into avoidable crisis and possible loss of lives.

“We call on the well-meaning members of NULGE in Rivers State to recognise the planned protest as an orchestrated scheme to lure them into fighting for the promotion of the private agenda of some selfish individuals and politicians and to shun the planned protest and patiently await the peaceful resolution of the legal issues involved in local government administration in Rivers State which are already pending before courts of competent jurisdiction.

“No good will come from needless protests and confrontation with law enforcement agencies who themselves are patiently awaiting judicial determination of the issues involved.

“Let us all keep fate with the due process of the rule of law for in the fullness of time, sanity, normalcy and order shall be restored to the administration of Local Government,” he added.