The gradual and reckless descent into anarchy in Rivers State, following resort to self-help by political gladiators in the state is appalling and stands condemned. Nigerians expected, to no avail, that those tasked with maintaining the rule of law in the state, together with higher authorities at Abuja, would demand accountability from the political merchants bent on replacing democratic rule with power-mongering, authoritarianism and barbarism. Unfortunately, it has been one brazen act of lawlessness yielding to another, culminating in arson and killings. The principal actors, their supporters as well as agencies of government that have aided the chaos through acts of omission or commission are all guilty of undermining democracy and toying with the fate of the people of Rivers State. And it is equally high time that the people of Rivers recognised that the crisis is not about their security and welfare, but rather a flexing of muscles and sheer power tussle by the two major political camps. President Tinubu cannot afford to assume neutrality or stand aloof in this matter, while a section of the country burns.

That resort by loyalists of certain gladiators to burn down local government secretariats in Ikwere and Eleme on October 7, 2024, is not only callous, it is an assault on democracy and a threat to its survival. Just a few hours after the Police announced they were pulling out of the 23 secretariats, where they had laid siege for three months, the arsonists struck unhindered and in broad daylight. The entire episode is condemnable and it must not go unpunished.

Trouble began in Rivers, towards the end of 2023, when Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his now estranged godfather, Nyesom Wike, the minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), fell apart. The story had been told of how Wike supported Fubara as the sole governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as assisted in winning the election in 2023. As compensation, Wike had nominated most of the commissioners to serve in Fubara?s executive council. The feud between Wike and Fubara was to later split the state legislature into two- 27 lawmakers standing with Wike while four lawmakers sided with Fubara.

An earlier attempt by President Tinubu to mediate the crisis on December 18, 2023, was feeble and not far-reaching. The parties returned to Rivers and the crisis escalated. The 27 pro-Wike lawmakers left the PDP to align with the party at the centre, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Meanwhile, Wike claimed he was still a member of PDP while he served in the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

It was only a matter of time before the political incongruity in Rivers exploded. Against all odds, council elections took place on October 5, 2024, just as two high courts, one in Abuja and the other in Port Harcourt issued counter orders on whether or not the elections should take place. The October 7 arson attacks on the secretariats, the first day the new council executives reported for work only indicated a worsening of the feud.

The judiciary?s role as the stabiliser of democracy must not be compromised. It has been observed that both Wike and Fubara camps brandish different court judgments to justify their disrespect for due process, whereas the Constitution at Section 109 has laid the grounds under which lawmakers shall vacate their seats. It is the failure of the judiciary to be resolute and judicious that has enabled mischievous interpretations of well-stated constitutional provisions. The judiciary should not abdicate its responsibility as the dependable and just arbiter in a democracy. The judiciary must not surrender that task to unruly and unjust politicians who operate without good conscience.

The role of the Police In the Rivers crisis is really appalling and highly suspicious. Why did they withdraw their occupation of council secretariats when the conflict was heightening? Yet, they claimed they were there in the first place to protect public property. The Police have a constitutional mandate to provide law and order without bias. When the Supreme Court on July 11, 2024, delivered a landmark judgment affirming financial autonomy to local government councils, in a suit brought by the Federal Government, the apex court gave a timeline for governors to conduct council elections. In deference to the ruling, many states have rushed to hold council elections. The neutrality of the Police must not be doubted in all circumstances. In the case of Rivers, the Police acted very unprofessionally by refusing to protect the council election and abandoning the secretariats when there was an intelligence report of a planned attack.

The bid by Rivers to hold council elections was fraught with controversies. The two leading parties, APC and PDP were left out in the cold in the bid by Wike and Fubara to outsmart each other. The field was left for the relatively unknown Action Peoples Party (APP) to win 22 out of the 23 councils. The APP is said to be a surrogate arrangement promoted by Governor Fubara.

The pattern of victory in Rivers council election is similar to what obtains in other states, whereby the governors? parties always make a clean sweep. The landslide victories awarded by State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECS) to ruling parties are dubious and make a mockery of democracy. The fact that APP is not the ruling party in Rivers does not exonerate the shenanigans. Nonetheless, it is senseless and the height of lawlessness for citizens and hired thugs to destroy government property in protest against elections. The police should take full responsibility for this.

President Tinubu should ensure a full investigation of the killings and arson that took place on October 7, 2024. Life is sacrosanct and is constitutionally protected. Those who violate the constitutional right to life must be brought to book. The seven-member judicial panel tasked with probing the assault and killings should do a thorough job. Nobody, no matter how highly placed that is linked to the mayhem must escape punishment.

President Tinubu, being the overseer of the polity, is incumbent on him to ensure that democracy survives. By now, Nigeria should have outgrown the bad politics of the First Republic that snowballed into the larger crisis between 1967 and 1970. Have politicians forgotten the consequences of it? Must they sacrifice the Fourth Republic on the altar of individual ambition and lust for questionable electoral victory?

Nigerians demand strict adherence to the rule of law and urge the judiciary to dispense justice without fear or favour. That is the only way democracy and Nigeria will survive. (The Guardian Editorial)

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