Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike has asked President Buhari to face his constitutional responsibility of securing the lives and property of all Nigerians.
He declared it was unconstitutional for the president to shift that responsibility to the state governments.
“Mr. President, you’re the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. You appoint Inspector General of Police (IG), you appoint the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Director of Department of State Service (DSS), and other heads of security. Which one do we appoint? How can people appointed by Mr. President be under me?” the governor queried, according to a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri.
Wike spoke at the commissioning of a road project in Etche Local Government Area of the State, the statement said.
He said that taking such a position suggests that the APC-led federal government has lost grip of the strategy on how to tackle the insecurity challenge facing the country.
“It is not only to borrow money for Nigeria that you’re in charge. You must, also, be in charge of other things including security. Who signed Order 10? Is it the governors? It is not when things are going bad concerning security, and you say you’re not in charge, and it becomes governors’ responsibility.”
The governor asked the APC-led federal government to admit that it can no longer fulfil promises made to Nigerians, and also lead the country out of its present predicament. Wike declared that when there is a failure, what makes leadership respectable is that such leader is able to accept its weakness publicly.
He spoke in response to President Buhari’s statement in a recent television interview that some governors had run to him in Abuja, asking him what they should do to contain the security challenges facing them in their states.
President Buhari said he ordered such governors to return home and face their responsibilities.
“Thank God, Mr President knows that I am not one of those that go to visit him over one problem or the other. I, as the governor of Rivers under PDP, you’ll never find me there,” Wike said.
