The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, says the incessant protests by various interest groups, workers and professional bodies in the State are the aftermath of Gov Chibuike Amaechi’s apathy to the social and economic life of the people.
The party in a statement signed by the Special Adviser, Media to the Chairman, Jerry Needam noted this misnomer while reacting to the street protests by the Staff of the State Transport Management Agency (TIMARIV) and members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the state Thursday, January 23, 2014 over non-payment of six months salaries and arrears and the continued absence of a presiding Chief Judge in the state respectively.
The PDP blames Gov Amaechi’s indignation for Civil Servants and public structures on his compromise of public trust for personal political ambition, describing it as most unfortunate.
The party also regrets that apart from the economic hardship being suffered by the civil servants in the state, whose salaries and allowances are being used to fund the All Progressives Congress, APC, almost all the social structures that keep life going have collapsed and administration of justice stagnated.
There is virtually no sector of the state economy according to the PDP, ranging from the Teachers, Medical Personnel, Lawyers, Traffic Management Agencies to market traders that has not suffered stagnation due to Gov Amaechi’s divestiture.
Unless something is done and very urgently too, by all concerned interest groups and stakeholders, the worst is yet to come as the party alone cannot do it all, to stop this madness and satanic joy in seeing the state is utterly destroyed, the PDP noted.
“We wonder what is remained of the State when civil servants are refused their legitimate entitlements, doctors and nurses in our hospitals are treated with careless abandon, Out of Stock (OS) has become the trademark of the so called Health Centres not minding the precarious state of patients, Lawyers cannot do their business because there is no chief judge to assign cases to judges and magistrates, traders are stranded here and there because their shops are either demolished or gutted by avoidable fire with no proviso. The rest of the people are threatened by flood disasters as a result of neglect and the monies earmarked for road maintenance and environmental upkeep are being mismanaged and misapplied to secondary and personal projects.
We however pray and hope that God will open the eyes of the people and enable them to rise up to this declaration of war on them by a one man who is ready and willing to sacrifice everything on the altar of political ambition”, the PDP remarks.
