The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has expressed concern over the economic consequences of the six-month emergency rule in Rivers State, saying the policy has left no fewer than 10,000 people without jobs.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Wednesday, the INC President, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, noted that the political clampdown in the state, which began on March 18, has crippled key sectors and displaced thousands of workers.
He explained that with the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and the Rivers State House of Assembly, governance was reduced to a single-handed administration, which he described as “a veiled form of dictatorship.”
Okaba lamented that the sole administrator imposed during the emergency rule could not adequately handle the complexities of governance in the oil-rich state, leading to widespread economic and social disruption.
ConfirmNews recalls that President Bola Tinubu had in March declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, a decision that sidelined the state’s elected leadership for half a year.
