The Nigeria Civil Service Union(NCSU) has stressed the need for the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok Ette Ibas (rtd) to continuously meet with stakeholders in the State, to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation in the State.
Rivers State Chairman of NCSU, Comrade Chukwuka Richman Osumah, who gave the indication in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the state capital said the union is appealing to the administrator to convene a meeting with all stakeholders in order to discuss and fashion out the best way of achieving lasting peace and genuine reconciliation among aggrieved parties in the State.
According to him, the political crisis which has rocked the State for several months, is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, noting that the administrator is supposed to prove that he is equal to the task of genuinely resolving the political logjam by carrying along all stakeholders and bringing all the political gladiators to the negotiation table.
He said the NCSU is not happy today because of the way things are going, stressing that Governor Fubara who gave civil servants a new lease of life, including promotions, Christmas bonus and N85,000 minimum, which Wike denied them when he was Governor for eight years, has not only been suspended from office but sidelined and relegated to the background.
While reaffirming the loyalty and support of civil servants to the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Osumah said the administrator needs to act fast, by working with all critical stakeholders to ensure that lasting peace prevails in the State.
He equally reiterated his appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to lift the state of emergency imposed on Rivers State, as well as take appropriate steps to ensure that Governor Fubara returns to his seat, to continue his good works, stressing that civil servants in the State are solidly behind the Governor.
He said for the period that the state of emergency lasts in the State, it would be a thing of joy for the administrator to follow the footsteps of Governor Fubara by giving governance a human face.
According to him, Governor Fubara had tirelessly worked and promoted peace in the State, and had put smiles on the faces of Rivers people, through his good works.
He noted that the peaceful disposition and superlative qualities and attributes of the Governor had endeared him to Rivers people, saying the administrator would write his name in gold if he emulates the Governor and his good works.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Chairman of NCSU, Comrade Chukwuka Richman Osumah, has condemned the way and manner the Administrator of the State, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas(rtd) is running the affairs of the State, without consulting and carrying along the stakeholders, as if the State is under a military rule.
He decried a situation where the administrator is running the affairs of the State in contrast with the mandate given to him by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
While reiterating that the State is not under a military rule but under a democratic dispensation, Osumah wondered why the administrator should be carrying on as if he is being influenced by some powerful political forces beyond him, particularly by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, one of the proponents of the emergency rule in the State.
He said the way the administrator is running the affairs of the State clearly shows that he is bent on preserving and protecting the political structures of Wike, rather than fashioning out means of resolving the political crisis in the State, without fear or favour.
The labour leader said the fact that the administrator is not keen on convening a stakeholders meeting, is further proof that he is prosecuting some hidden agenda, aimed at placating the FCT Minister and his band of loyalists.
According to him, the administrator should rather focus on entrenching lasting peace and reconciliation in the State, rather than dissipating energy and resources to foist military rule in the State.
He said the NCSU would resist any attempt by the administrator to foist dictatorial rule in the State, stressing that the union would not hesitate to mobilise civil servants in the State to down their tools if the administrator continues to run the affairs of the State without carrying along the stakeholders.
He noted that instead of declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State, the Federal Government ought to have done so in Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau and other Northern States, where bandits, kidnappers, Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen have been having a field day, saying Rivers State has been generally peaceful up till this day.
