Rivers Exco Okays Anti-Open Grazing Bill

The Rivers State Executive has approved a bill to ban open rearing and grazing of livestock in the state.
The council gave the approval in it’s meeting held last Wednesday at Government House Port Harcourt.
The State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Zacchaeus Adangor, who disclosed this to journalists after the meeting said after exhaustive deliberation on the highlights of the bill, the State Executive Council approved it for onward transmission to the Rivers State House of Assembly for necessary legislative action.
“ In summary, once that bill is passed, no person will be allowed to openly graze livestock in Rivers State,  except within the confines of a ranch. And to establish a ranch, you must apply to the state committee for approval. And that committee , having regard to the guidelines it is going to issue, may or may not issue approval to establish a ranch”, Adangor said.
He further said that the council also approved the Rivers State Residence Registration Agency Bill which will make it mandatory for residents in the state to register. 
According to the Attorney General, “ that bill is going to establish an agency that will superintend the implementation of that bill. So if you come to Rivers State and you are going to stay in the state for more than two weeks, you will be bound to register “.
In same vein, the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture in the state, Dr FredKpako, who also addressed journalists after the council meeting, said the council also approved the construction of a modern abattoir at Mgbuoshimi in Rumueme, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
The commissioner explained that the new abattoir will be an integrated facility sitting on a twenty- one pilots of land by the seashore .
Also last week, the Rivers State Chief Executive hosted the former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Abubakar who spoke to the press after the closed door meeting revealed that they deliberated on party affairs
“ Well, I came here to reconcile with the Governor on party affairs and how we can ensure that there is unity and stability in the party.
“ So that we can take over government in 2023. I believe that Nigerians can’t wait for 2023 to come, so that PDP will return”, the former Vice President said.
Describing the present security situation in the country as bad ,Atiku Abubakar urged Nigerians to be patient till the appropriate time when PDP shall unveil its policies on how it would address the issue of insecurity across the country.
“ I have never seen it ( insecurity) this bad. I am 70 years plus, I have never seen it this bad in terms of insecurity challenges, in terms of economy, in terms of unemployment. This is the worst”, he said. The former Vice President lauded Governor Wike for the tremendous leadership success recorded by his administration. 
“ I think he (Wike) is the topmost Governor we have in the party. There is no doubt about that, in terms of projects,youth and employment, in terms of security”, 
Another major event last week in Brick House was the courtesy  visit to Governor Wike by the new Chief of Army Staff,  Lt. Gen. Farouk Yahaya. The Governor urged the Chief of Army Staff not to allow his officers to abandon their professional duties and get involved in mainstream politics.
Governor Wike noted that the fight against insecurity in the country had suffered setback because army officers became partisan and could not stand on the side of professional practice because of their bias.
The Governor who restated the commitment of his administration towards giving needed support to security agencies in the state promised to sustain the support to enable the agencies to fight crime in the state.
In his speech, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Farouk Yahaya, said he was in the state on an operation visit to Six Division of Nigerian Army. Yahaya said he was using the visit to officially open the Combat Support Training week and invited the Governor to be their Special Guest of Honour. He commended the Governor for the support his administration has been providing for the Nigerian Army.Gov Wike was among the Governors who attended the PDP Governors’ Forum in Bauchi State last Monday.

By: Chris Oluoh