BY GBENGA OKE

Rivers State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has faulted Governor Rotimi Amaechi for setting up caretaker committees to man the local governments in the state.

The party also called for a probe into the activities of the former chairmen, accusing them of financial recklessness.
In a statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the state Chairman, Mr. Jerry Needam, the party described the actions of Governor Amaechi as unconstitutional.

He said: “The only rationale behind the choice of caretaker committee chairmen by Governor Amaechi is the fear of losing to the PDP if local government elections are held because the state remains dominantly a PDP state.”

He queried the essence of setting up an electoral body for the state when it cannot be allowed to perform its statutory functions, explaining that “the out-gone council chairmen ran their councils aground, but it is not enough to sack them as they should be made to give account of how they spent the huge resources allocated to them in the last three years without any visible evidence of the investment in any of the councils.

“To prove his persistent claim of running a transparent government, the PDP therefore, wants Governor Amaechi to, as a matter of urgent public interest, initiate a probe into these allegations of misappropriation of council funds against the former council chairmen.”