Dame Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Rivers State, has expressed concerns about the consequences of the state of emergency declared in the state.
In a recent interview, Cookey-Gam questioned the legality of the appointment of a sole administrator, citing the unconstitutional removal of elected officials, including Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Governor Professor Ngozi Odu.
“The first thing is to look at how he came about being appointed because the president who has appointed him does not have the powers to appoint, to remove elected officials of government, to remove the governor of the state, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, remove the deputy governor, Professor Ngozi Odu and all elected officials of the Rivers State House of Assembly and appoint a sole administrator which is unconstitutional,” Cookey-Gam stated.
Cookey-Gam emphasized that the sole administrator’s primary responsibility is to maintain law and order, not to embark on new projects or award contracts. She noted that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Board and other statutory boards should not be tampered with, as they are recognized under the Constitution and tenured.
“I can understand the political appointees like the Commissioners or the Secretary to Government since he has already appointed a Secretary to Government, but certainly not the tenured boards and it is of concern and worry to citizens,” Cookey-Gam said.
The former Attorney General also raised concerns about the management of the state’s resources, warning that the treasury might be looted. She stressed that the president’s declaration of a state of emergency does not grant him the power to expend funds from the consolidated revenue fund without accountability.
“Our concern and our fears are that our monies are going to be used unjustly for things that we do not approve of or that are not authorized and not for the benefit of Rivers people… Assuming today that the sole administrator exits office, who is he going to account to? Is he going to account to the governor when he comes back? Is he going to account to the National Assembly?” Cookey-Gam queried.
Cookey-Gam, who spoke on behalf of the Rescue Rivers group, a coalition of professionals and indigenes of Rivers State, called on the president to ensure that only necessary and critical matters are attended to during the emergency period. She emphasized that the governance of Rivers State should be done by indigenes of the state, not outsiders.
“He is not an indigene of Rivers state, and the governance of Rivers state should be done by indigenes of Rivers state. All right well so understandably yes, he is a son of the Niger Delta like all of us are of the Niger Delta. That is fine but he is not an indigene of Rivers state,” Cookey-Gam said.