For accompanying a governorship aspirant to get his application form at the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party, a socio-cultural organisation has called for the removal and possible sanction of a traditional ruler in Bayelsa State.
The group, under the auspices of the ‘Ogbia Renaissance’ in a statement on Friday, called on the state government and the respective traditional council to sanction King A.J. Turner, for partisanship.
Turner, who is from Ogbia, former President Goodluck Jonathan’s hometown, was said to have acted contrary to Section 6, Cap C4 òf the Bayelsa State Chieftaincy Law when he accompanied a politician to pick a governorship application form at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja.
A statement by the Chairman of the group, Mr Obhioru Mitanoni, said Turner’s recent activities were unbecoming of the expected conduct of a traditional ruler.
The group called on the state government and the relevant traditional institutions with supervisory responsibilities over the conduct and operations of traditional rulers in the state to sanction the monarch.
The group alleged that Turner, said to be close to Governor Seriake Dickson, had been sponsoring acts of subversion against the government.
Meanwhile, Turner had earlier called on the police and the Department of State Services to take prompt action on a petition he submitted against Governor Dickson over alleged threat to life.
Turner had, in the petition, alleged that there was a threat to his life by the governor, through a direct telephone call to his son.
In a statement issued by his media aide, Idris Usman, the royal father stated that his petition, written by his legal representatives had “been submitted to the Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of the DSS, and awaiting action from the security agencies”.
The statement further called on “the DSS and Nigeria Police not to treat such a serious matter, which involves a threat to life, with kid gloves”.
But Mitanoni said as critical stakeholders who had followed the relationship between Turner and the governor, the group was shocked by the recent allegations made by the traditional ruler that the governor was after his life.
