AD urges Rivers lawmakers to respect rule of law

By The Citizen

The National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Mr Rafiu Salau, has advised members of the Rivers State House of Assembly to toe the line of constitutionalism in resolving the lingering political crisis in the state.

Salau, who gave the advice in Abuja on Sunday in an interview with reporters, urged the lawmakers to respect the rule of law in resolving their differences.

'There is no way few members will be going contrary to the process of legislation in the house of assembly.

'The legislative arm of government has a process of enacting laws and regulations, so they should ensure that they follow the normal process.

'In a state that is known to have good assembly members, the truth of the matter is that they need to come together to sort out the crisis in the state,' he said.

Describing the fracas in the Rivers State House of Assembly as unacceptable, Salau urged politicians to show decency in tackling problems that might arise in the nation's quest for a true democratic environment.

He expressed hope that the nation would overcome many challenges before the 2015 general elections, just as other nations had overcome theirs.

'What we are seeing now is just a matter of time, when it is time for elections political parties would ensure that they maintain good internal democracy.'

He observed that most of the challenges the nation had been witnessing were mostly intra-party and not inter-party, saying that the later was more explosive in damaging the cause of democracy.

'It can be very dangerous if it becomes an inter-party crisis where party A and party B are fighting.'

Salau commended the timely intervention of National Assembly members in the Rivers House of Assembly crisis.

He, however, said that ' the best thing to do is to allow the assembly members to go back to the house and provide the leadership needed.

'And if the assemblymen members are really interested in changing the leadership of the house they should do so in a democratic way.' (NAN)