COVID-19 lockdown: Gov. Wike becoming a dictator in Rivers – Senior lawyer, Adegboruwa

A frontline activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, has accused the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike of turning into a dictator.

He listed some attributes of dictatorship being displayed by the Governor to include the arbitrary arrest of pilots and oil workers; the closure of State boundaries and now an executive order to auction all vehicles impounded for allegedly violating the State’s lockdown rules.

DAILY POST reported earlier that Wike on Friday arrested 14 persons hidden in two trailers conveying cattle from Adamawa State to Port Harcourt, the State’s capital
He ordered that the two truck-load of cows and the vehicles be auctioned today.

In a terse statement he entitled, ‘The Emerging Dictatorship in Rivers State’ and made available to DAILY POST on Saturday, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria noted that Wike should know better being a lawyer.

“The Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Mr. Nyesom Wike, is a lawyer, which should be an added advantage to birth good governance,” he said.

“The Governor also has a reliable partner as a judicial officer, so that both in the office and at home, law is following the Governor and it is written all over him.

“But the story of Rivers State in recent times has become a major worry for all lovers of the rule of law and democracy.
“From the arbitrary arrest of pilots and oil workers, to the closure of State boundaries and now an executive order to auction all vehicles alleged to have violated the lockdown order of the Governor, it has been one case of illegality to another.

“The Constitution grants unfettered right to property and it cannot be circumscribed without following the due process of law.

“The Rivers State Governor has no legal right in law to confiscate the property of citizens by executive fiat. Surely, two wrongs cannot make a right.

“I urge the good people of Rivers State to stand up to every form of lawlessness and arbitrariness and defend their rights under the Constitution.

“The People’s Democratic Party will be living in condemnable hypocrisy, if it claims to be in opposition to the ruling party but cannot correct the excesses of its own leaders,” he added.