ABSENCE OF GOVERNANCE IN BONNY: RESIDENTS CRY OUT

…CTC Chairman’s close associates angry over disappearance of June LG allocation, N31m Shell tenement rate

Nineteen days after the caretaker committee for Bonny local government area was inaugurated the people of the area are yet to know if there is any form of government in place in the LGA. Residents have continued to lament the absence of governance since their inauguration by Governor Nyesom Wike.

Residents of the community who spoke with Enigma Reports say "Bonny has been stagnant for a while now," pointing out that there is no visible sign that there is a government in place in Bonny Island, complaining that “people are dying every day, a lot of things that need government’s attention are happening and workers are not being paid”. 

They observed that the relocation of the Bonny Main Market started by the embattled elected Chairman of the LGA, Omuso Abbey, is yet to be completed. In fact there has been no activity in that area since he vacated office for the CTC Chairman, Benjamin Ibietonye.

Abbey vacated office following the controversial ruling of Justice Lambo Akanbi, which set aside the election of the 22 LGA chairmen in Rivers State. He said he had to vacate the office in the overall interest of the community and for peace to reign as leadership is not by force but by the free will of the people".

Also the flooding problem that has been a perennial problem facing the area for a long time now, which Hon. Omuso Abbey was already taking drastic steps to checkmate has been abandoned. Recent rainfall roused residents to their nightmare with many of them wondering if there is any government in the area.

A reliable source in the office of the CTC Chairman revealed to Enigma Reports that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) paid out N31 million as its tenement rate for 2015 to the local government council last week. But so far the whereabouts of the money remains a mystery. Same with the June allocation of the council, which reliable sources in Government House, Port Harcourt, say was disbursed to CTC Chairmen after last month’s State joint allocation and accounts committee (JAAC) meeting held in Port Harcourt.

A staff in the Chairman’s office, who craved anonymity, lamented that up till now they were yet to receive their June salaries, which according to him, never delayed during the tenure of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. He hinted that some of the Chairman’s ‘boys’ are complaining bitterly that they have been short-changed as nothing has reached them since they entered office even with the huge amount of money that has come into the Council.

Unconfirmed sources attribute the recent cult clashes in Bonny to the anger of the ‘boys’ over their non-settlement. It has been alleged that one of the cult groups reportedly learnt that the CTC Chairman, who is also the Bonny LGA coordinator of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), which many say is the armed section of Nyesom Wike’s political structure, has ‘settled’ its rival cult group, and decided to take laws into their hands to rectify the anomaly.

The clash between both groups, the Icelanders and Greenlanders, resulted in the deaths of close to ten persons in different parts of the community.

In fact many are still wondering how neither the CTC Chairman nor the security agencies intervened to contain the situation until about ten persons lost their lives. Till date no word from the Chairman, except Omuso Abbey who issued a statement in that regard.

In an exclusive chat with Enigma Reports, an indigene of the area, Fubara Halliday, said that “since after Hon. Omuso left office, the Island has been without a leader even though there is a CTC Chairman. He cannot be compared to our amiable chairman of Bonny LGA.

“Political illiteracy has characterised the people of the Island so much so that they no longer think aright but are now beclouded by sentiments and hate,” stressing that “it is high time the Bonny people start thinking of who can do the job rather than believing in a particular political party. Bonny has been backward for a while and as a people, that's not what we need,” he declared.

A close confidant of the Chairman, who does want his name in print, said his expectation that they would hit the ground running and carry out programmes and projects that would outshine Omuso Abbey’s short stint riddled with visible performance has been disappointed. He laments that many of the Chairman’s close associates are yet to benefit from the largesse from Wike and Shell.

“Nothing is moving, we are just trying to cope and with the way things are going, PDP may not survive it. Indeed, even the PDP members and members of staff of the council are really missing Hon. Omuso's kind nature. One man, who will go round offices, checking on his staff before entering his own office to resume duties for the day. A man, who piloted the affairs of the Island without allocation from the State but managed effectively the little funds that he met when he resumed office until the very day the Federal High Court judgment. No! Omuso is a leader,” he said.

Efforts to reach the CTC Chairman or his chief press secretary to have his reaction was not fruitful as they were not answering calls to their lines or respond to text messages sent to their numbers.