Nigerian opposition party asks legislators to block budget

ABUJA

Nigeria’s main opposition party has called on its MPs to block all legislation, including the 2014 budget.

This would remain the case until “the rule of law” was restored in oil-rich Rivers state and “Nigeria in general”, the All Progressive Congress said.

The Rivers state governor fell out with President Goodluck Jonathan last year and defected to the APC. Mr Jonathan’s party has lost its majority in the lower chamber of parliament following other defections.

Analysts say the row centers around Mr Jonathan’s undeclared intention to contest elections in 2015 for the governing People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest oil producers, with Rivers state supplying about 40 per cent of all the country’s oil, according to business information firm Ngex.

The row between Rivers state governor Rotimi Amaechi and President Jonathan’s supporters has paralysed politics in the state, with the police stopping the local state assembly from meeting in its building.

The APC accuses the state police chief of taking sides and worsening tensions — it wants his removal, as demanded by Nigeria’s federal House of Representatives last year.

“The culture of lawlessness and impunity” in Rivers was being promoted by the presidency and the state’s police chief Joseph Mbu, the APC national executive committee said in a statement.

It went on to describe Mr Mbu as “the de facto military governor of Rivers State and sole administrator of the PDP in the state”.