According to the report from SYMFONI TV, Human rights activist and environmentalist, Ann-Kio Briggs, has called on former acting Governor of Rivers State, Ibok-Ete Ibas, to give a full account of his stewardship during the six-month period of what she described as an “autocratic rule imposed on the people of Rivers State.”
Speaking on the political situation in the state, Briggs questioned the legitimacy of Ibas’s actions during his short tenure, particularly the removal of commissioners appointed under an elected government.
“Now, did Ibas have a right to remove commissioners that were appointed when he himself is not even an elected officer into the governance of Rivers State?” she asked pointedly.
Briggs rejected the notion that the return of the elected governor should mean overlooking what she considers the wrongdoings that occurred during the suspension period.
“That’s why I say that I do not buy into the idea that because the governor is back, we should forget about all the illegalities and the wrong things that went on in the six months that the governor was suspended,” she stated.
According to her, the frustration currently felt by many Rivers people stems from the political instability that could have been avoided.
“The frustration that the people of Rivers State feel right now, including myself, when it comes to smooth governance, is the fact that if the President had not taken the decision he had taken, and if some people of Rivers State had not decided that they were going to fight the governor of Rivers State until they remove him, we would not be here today,” she noted.
Emphasizing her independence and the right to speak on issues affecting her state, Briggs made it clear that her stance was not politically motivated.
“I will express my own feelings. I’m not a politician. So I’m not looking at it from the eye of a politician; I’m not looking at it from the eye of who is my party and who is not my party. I am looking at it purely from the eye of what is in the interest of the people of Rivers State,” she concluded. See, More, Here>>>
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