Women’s Group Alleges Bayelsa Govt Plans To Remove Only Female LG Chair For Refusing To Join APC

In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Dr. Marilyn Damian Okoro, the organisation condemned what it described as the ongoing intimidation of Tangi, alleging that the Bayelsa State Government, working through the State House of Assembly and the legislative arm of the Sagbama Local Government Council, was behind efforts to remove the elected chairperson.

The group described the alleged move as "a direct affront to women, a betrayal of democratic norms, and an assault on the principles of local government autonomy."

According to the organisation, Tangi remains the only woman elected as a local government chairperson in Bayelsa State since the beginning of the current democratic dispensation and only the second in the state's history.

The group alleged that "credible reports indicate that this planned action is being driven by political pressure linked to her refusal to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the People's Democratic Party (PDP)."

It further accused Governor Douye Diri and his deputy, Pastor Peter Akpe, of allegedly masterminding the move.

"We are disappointed with Senator Douye Diri, the Governor of Bayelsa, and his Deputy, Pastor Peter Akpe, for allegedly masterminding efforts to force her out of office for declining to join the APC. This is undemocratic, unconstitutional, and unacceptable," the statement said.

The organisation argued that compelling an elected official to join a political party violates the constitutional right to freedom of association.

"Every Nigerian, including elected local government chairpersons, enjoys the fundamental right to freedom of association as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. No citizen is under any legal or moral obligation to join any political party, including the APC. Political affiliation must remain a matter of personal conviction and free will, not compulsion, coercion, or the threat of removal from office. It cannot be a ground for the impeachment of an elected official with a legal tenure."

The Centre also maintained that neither the governor nor the Bayelsa State House of Assembly has the constitutional authority to remove an elected local government chairman, citing the Supreme Court judgment of July 11, 2024, which granted financial and administrative autonomy to the country's 774 local government councils.

"The historic ruling ordered that federal allocations be paid directly to local councils and prohibited state governors from dissolving elected local councils. As such, Governor Douye Diri and his Deputy, Pastor Peter Akpe, who is alleged to be behind Alice's ordeals, have no power to remove or suspend her from office," it said.

Questioning the rationale behind the alleged move, the organisation asked: "Why would Peter Akpe and other forces desperately want to remove a woman whose tenure ends in seven months' time? She was duly elected under the PDP and has chosen to remain in the PDP.