Go home quietly, Asari Dokubo tells Rivers LG chairmen.
Niger Delta leader and former militant warlord, Muhajid Asari Dokubo, has asked Local Government chairmen in Rivers State to accept the end of their three-year tenure and 'go home quietly'.
A fresh crisis is brewing in Rivers over the tenure of the 23 council chairmen.
While Governor Siminalayi Fubara has directed the chairmen who have the backing of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to vacate office at the expiration of their tenure, they have refused on the grounds that the pro-Wike faction of Rivers House of Assembly has extended their tenure.
The Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly had amended the law to enable LG chairmen extend their tenure by six months over the alleged failure of Fubara to conduct local government elections.
The State ALGON Chairman, Allwell Ihunda, who doubles as the Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, insisted that the law by the House of Assembly empowers them to remain in office.
But speaking during activities to mark the 2024 Eid-el-Kabir celebrations in Port Harcourt, Asari Dokubo said tenure elongation is an aberration to the Constitution of Nigeria.
He said the former chairmen, whose tenure expired on June 17, 2024, could not force on themselves any extension of time that runs contrary to the oath of office they swore to and be tolerated.
Asari Dokubo, who is also the Edi Abali of Kalabari land, warned the former chairmen not to invite the wrath of, what he called, the 'people's power', because it will descend on them to their dismay.