SAN FRANCISCO, August 21, (THEWILL) – A group, the Coalition of Democrats, which calls itself an organisation committed to the restoration of democracy in Rivers State, on Wednesday, faulted the state governor, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, over what it described as “the regime of impunity and desecration of the tenets of democracy in Rivers State.”
Alleging that Amaechi, “who has just sworn-in his crony as the Acting Chief Judge of the state,” was wrong in doing so, the group said the governor has breached the constitution by swearing-in the President of the Customary Court of Appeal in the state, Justice Peter N. C. Agumagu, as the Acting Chief Judge of Rivers State.
“This action, in our view, contravenes Section 271(4) of the 1999 Constitution, constitutes a violation of democratic tenets and all laws of morality and decency,” the group said in a statement signed by its president, Eugene Alawei.
It added that “This latest show of high-handedness and lack of respect for the rule of law by the Rivers State governor has confirmed that he is indeed a dictator, and his actions could further throw the state into deeper crisis.”
Calling the attention of all true democrats in Rivers State and Nigeria as well as concerned authorities to call the governor to order before the state is thrown, once again, into an orgy of violence, the coalition said “By setting aside the nominee of the state’s Judicial Service Commission, Justice Daisy Okocha, of the state High Court, Port Harcourt, Governor Amaechi has shown that he would only hand-pick someone who would always dance to his tune.”
According to the statement from the group, ”Traditionally, upon the expiration of the tenure of a chief judge, the most senior judge by hierarchy steps in, but Governor Amaechi, in a brazen disregard of protocol and seniority bypassed Justice Okocha to install his crony.”
The group recalled that the crisis in the state started with Amaechi’s “arbitrary use of power through the removal of an elected Council chairman and tampering with election of the state executive of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers state.”
It maintained that “This act of dictatorship must be resisted by all democrats in Rivers State,” as it called on all true democrats in Nigeria to join us in stopping what it described as the desecration of democracy in the state.
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