The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has strongly condemned the appointment of sole administrators for 23 local government areas in Rivers State by Vice Admiral Ibok-Etteh Ibas (rtd.), which occurred just hours after a court issued a restraining order against such appointments.
They described this action in Rivers as a civilian-instigated coup orchestrated by President Bola Tinubu for selfish political reasons.
CUPP spokesperson, Comrade Mark Adebayo expressed this condemnation during a conversation with our correspondent.
He stated that the situation in Rivers regarding the appointment of these sole administrators reflects the consequences of allowing a military individual into a democratic setting where he has no place.
Adebayo further criticized the move, stating that Vice Admiral Ibas was behaving like a typical military dictator, executing the orders he was given for his role in Rivers State. He labelled the appointment of the sole administrators as illegal, unconstitutional, and lacking proper authority.
“This is exactly what happens when you invite a military man into a democratic space where he has no business to be. What happened in Rivers State was tantamount to a civilian-instigated coup orchestrated by none other than President Tinubu in the service of selfish political expediency.
“The administrator is acting the typical military dictator that he is and carrying out the hatchet’s job that he was appointed to do in Rivers State. His appointment was illegal, unconstitutional, and ultra vires,” the CUPP spokesperson said.
“But being a military dictator without a State Assembly to regulate his activities, he believes he is above the law and not subject to court orders but to the whims of those who illegally imposed him on the state against all democratic principles and extant constitutional provisions,” he added.
Adebayo, however, noted that what President Tinubu had done in Rivers State political saga would go down in Nigeria’s democratic history as fatal damage to the nation’s democratic gains in almost three decades, saying that the president had “engaged in an illegality that may end up haunting him sooner.”
This was just as he noted that when a man is appointed illegally, he will act illegally with impunity, being the mentality of the barracks, saying that President Tinubu should be blamed for whatever mess had happened in Rivers State.
“What President Bola Tinubu has done in Rivers State will go down in Nigeria’s democratic history as a fatal damage to Nigeria’s democratic gains in almost three decades.
“He has engaged in an illegality that may end up haunting him sooner. When a man is appointed illegally, he will act illegally with impunity. That’s the mentality of the barracks. Blame President Tinubu for whatever mess happens in Rivers State. Somehow, if the administrator continues to act in disobedience to legitimate court orders, he will one day answer for his egregiously illegal indiscretions,” he said.
READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE