As the controversy surrounding the newly elected Chairmen in Rivers State lingers, The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has said that only a competent tribunal can oust the Chairmen.
Ikanya spoke at a press briefing on Tuesday contrary to speculations that Governor-elect Chief Nyesom Wike would dissolve the councils once sworn-in.
“Nyesom Wike cannot, he does not have the power to dissolve an elected council, if he had the power to dissolve them, somebody else have the powers to dissolve him.
The Chairmen can only be dissolved by a court of law or a tribunal. He also described as an aberration the fact that a Chief judge from Bayelsa was going to swear-in Wike on Friday. “Is it not an aberration, is it not a taboo that a Chief judge from Bayelsa would swear in a governor from Rivers State. The attorney general of the federation knows that he doesn’t have the right to do that, or is it because we are keeping quiet”
Ikanya also decried the refusal of Rivers state resident electoral commissioner Gesilla Khan to release to them documents of the just concluded presidential and governorship elections. “Our party has applied to INEC Rivers State to furnish us with the copies of the results sheets and documents which they claim to have used in the elections in Rivers State but the have released very few unimportant materials to our legal team, the very essential ones the have failed to release till now”.
He wondered why for more than eight weeks, Mrs. Khan has not been able to release those documents “She does not have any excuse to why she has not been able to release those documents” he said and added that her attitude defies her earlier claim that elections were free and fair. “It is indeed a shame that the same materials to which INEC was said to have conducted the elections have developed wings”.
According to him, only three Local Government (Opobo Nkoro, Ogu/Bolo, Akuku/Toru) were released and assured that the court would be used to force INEC to release the document.
