The Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has appealed to his cabinet members to work with him in restoring peace and order in the state.
Fubara, who gave the charge while swearing in five new commissioners appointed by his government in Port Harcourt yesterday, decried the violence that trailed the last Saturday local government election in the state.
His call for peace came on a day the state government also constituted a seven-man judicial commission to investigate the arson perpetrated in the state by thugs on Monday, which resulted in the setting ablaze of four local government secretariats.
The governor also said his administration will not fold its arms and watch sponsored political thugs run berserk and commit arson in the state.
He said: “As your leader, the one steering the ship, I assure you that I will not mislead anyone of you. I still stand on the path of peace. We have cases of arson in some local government areas.
“But I appreciate your calmness. I have always maintained that we are going to be the greatest losers, if we meet them force-for-force. We need to go with peace.
“So, I will encourage everyone of you not to follow them with violence. We are carrying a basket of precious eggs in our hands. So, we need to follow them with care and wisdom.
“We are in a situation where the funds being generated from oil production are not sufficient to tackle the challenges of Nigeria, and every hand has to be on deck to make sure there is an increase in production.
“Our focus here, not minding the distractions, will be how to provide support. You have to work with us to make sure we curb this issue of oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
“This is the only way the allowances (revenue) will increase and more will also come to our state, and more progress will also be achieved in this state.”
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“I said it before it happened. I knew because they were unhappy, they would go the extra mile to create disaffection in the minds of the good people of Rivers State.
“We want to also let the people know that what has happened (arson) after the election, we are not going to allow it go uninvestigated.
“A similar event had happened in this manner before, and after some weeks, some of our supporters were declared wanted in order to turn the story around.
“But this time around, I strongly believe, with the support and cooperation of the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services, DSS, we will unravel those behind the assault and make sure they account for their atrocities,” he added.
Fubara has been at loggerheads with his immediate predecessor, Nyesom Wike, who is the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Their intense fight has centered on who will control the political structure in the state.
Wike had last night, during an interview on Channels TV, accused Fubara of being the cause of the violence in the state, stressing the governor’s lack of respect for the rule of law.
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