TUC warns Rivers crisis endangers workers, urges immediate political truce

In a statement signed by the State Chairman, Comrade Dr. Udoka Ugochukwu Josiah, the Congress called on both arms of government to “sheath their swords and embrace peace” in the overriding interest of workers and the people of Rivers State.

The TUC noted that the prolonged political impasse has the potential to disrupt governance and stall development, stressing that democracy can only deliver dividends when state institutions work in harmony.

“There is a need for the Executive and the Legislature to work together in order to deliver democratic dividends to the people of Rivers State,” Josiah stated.

The labour body expressed concern that six months after the suspension of democratic processes in the state, political actors have failed to reconcile their differences, instead returning to unresolved pre-emergency rule disputes and further overheating the polity.

“Where two elephants are fighting, the grass suffers,” Josiah said, adding that “in this case, the grass constitutes workers and the good people of Rivers State.”

The TUC Chairman decried what he described as continuous impasses between the two arms of government, warning that the situation poses a serious threat to peace and stability in the state.

He called on traditional institutions, the clergy, elders, and other critical stakeholders in Rivers State to urgently intervene and broker a lasting reconciliation.

“The current political crisis is threatening the peace of the state and requires sincere intervention and enduring reconciliation on the issues at stake,” he said.

Josiah also appealed to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to step in and help bring the crisis to an end.

“The TUC hereby urges Mr. President and the national leadership of the APC to also intervene to put an end to the political crisis in Rivers State,” the statement concluded.