By: Felix Ikpotor
The authorities of Degema local government area of Rivers State says there is no plan by the council chairman, Dr. Tony Philmoore to cede part of any community to another.
A statement by Gogo Iyalla, Chief Press Secretary to the chairman described the rumour making the rounds as handiwork of mischief makers aimed at maligning the chairman.
The statement noted that the council does not have the power to do such and cannot as well have done that.
The statement reads:
“It has come to our notice that some not well informed persons in the local government area are trying to stir up trouble by spreading false rumours and deliberately maligning the person of the executive chairman by claiming that Degema Local Government Council has ceded part of their community land to another community.
First and foremost, neither the executive chairman nor the council has any right whatsoever under the 1999 Constitution of the Federation to cede part or whole communities to other communities.
There is a state boundary adjustment committee statutorily empowered to settle inter community boundary matters headed by Her Excellency, Dr. Ipalibo Harry Banigo, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State. There is also the National Boundary Commission which delineates boundaries between states. Decisions of both bodies are subject to court decisions arising from boundary related litigations. The recent case of ownership of Soku Oil Wells between Bayelsa State and Rivers State easily comes to mind.
Now employees and agents of the National Population Commission are in our communities in view of the Enumeration Area Demarcation, EAD, Exercise ongoing currently nationwide. NPC is a federal government agency that has been conducting similar exercises for Census, National Housing Policy and other purposes. It thus has data, maps and records of all the communities in Nigeria. And that is what its agents and employees are relying on for this year’s EAD Exercise.
If any community feels its territories have been wrongly demarcated or improperly represented on the map, council advises strongly that such community go to the National Population Commission to demand correction of such anomaly rather than accusing the chairman of council of ceding its land to another community. It must be made clear here, as earlier stated, that chairman of council has no authority or power under the Nigerian Constitution to cede any community land to another and neither has the Executive Chairman of Degema Local Government Area, Alabo Tony Philmoore, PhD, JP, done so either in the past or present”.
