President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has criticised the imposition of a sole administrator in Rivers State, describing it as unconstitutional and reminiscent of military rule.
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television, Ajaero emphasised that both the governor and members of the state assembly were democratically elected, and their removal must follow due constitutional process. He insisted that the NLC cannot recognise or “take salute” from an unelected appointee, warning that such actions undermine democratic governance.
The words of Ajaero at some point during the interview read, “it’s self-explanatory. The people elected a governor, and then the governor was suspended, and in fact even the assembly was suspended, and a sole administrator was imposed. A sole administrator; we had the last of it during the military era.”
“If the country is now allowed to elect a president and allow a president to now appoint the governors in all the states, it makes sense, but a president has an authority that he was elected; the governor and members of the House of Assembly have the authority that they were elected; the process for their removal is enshrined in the constitution,” he stated.
He further added that, “if you go beyond that, you have violated the constitution. If you’re expecting us to remove the sole administrator, that is not how the job is done, but we have said this one is wrong, and that is why we said we can’t take salutations from him.”
