One of the major opposition political parties in Rivers State, the Labour Party (LP) has criticized the composition of the Committee set up by the Rivers State Government to distribute food items to members of the public as palliative following the sit at home directive to curtail the spread of Covid-19.
According to Labour Party, the appointment of members of the committee is tilted towards a select political party in the State.
Speaking with newsmen in his office, the Rivers State Chairman of the Labour Party, Prince Favour Reuben warned that the fight against the coronavirus should not be politicized.
He equally regretted that the State has no database or statistics for the palliative programme and wondered if they will do a thorough job without being partial.
The Labour Party while commending the Rivers State government for some of the proactive measures taken to halt the spread of the pandemic, however observed that the closed inter-state borders have been converted to toll gates, creating undue hardship to the rural dwellers.
The Party Chairman appealed to Governor Wike to deploy health workers to the State borders to check and test persons entering the State and as well allow free movement of goods, agricultural produce and essential commodities into the State.
While calling on the people and residents of the State to comply with all the government directives in order to avoid the spread of COVID-19 disease in the State, the party advised the Federal Government to approve grant and support Rivers State in its effort in curbing the virus.
Labour Party also used the opportunity to condemn the continued harassment, intimidation and abuse of citizens by the security operatives and the taskforce team, and solicited what it called ‘civil approach’ in the fight against the dreaded pandemic.
