Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt
RIVERS State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said that henceforth, the state government will remove traditional rulers directly involved in partisan politics.
Wike also charged traditional rulers to speak up against the deliberate plot to deny the Rivers people representation at the Senate through the failure to conduct rerun elections in the state.
The governor, who made this remark in Port Harcourt on Tuesday while declaring open the 104th quarterly general meeting of the State Council of Traditional Rulers, maintained that traditional rulers were expected to serve members of their communities.
According to him, a traditional ruler, who is an active member of a political party will not function in line with the expectations of all community residents.
“We have decided to weed out all the traditional rulers that are involved in active politics from the system in the interest of the state and the communities that you are meant to serve,” the governor stressed.
Wike promised the monarchs that the development drive of his administration would get to the local government areas of the state, saying, “No part of the state will be left behind in our quest to develop our state.”
On INEC’s failure to conduct the rerun elections in Rivers State, the governor said the nation enjoyed the benefits of the peaceful revenue generation from the oil fields of the state, while it cited insecurity for the “perpetual” postponement of rerun elections.
– punch