"All shops and business premises along Rumuola to Rumuokwuta Roads in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state shall remain closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Wednesday."
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared Wednesday a public holiday while urging the people to turn out en masse to receive the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, who is on a two-day visit to the oil-rich state.
Governor Wike disclosed this in a state-wide broadcast which lasted for 167 seconds. A clip of the broadcast is posted on Facebook.
Mr Wike in the broadcast described Mr Tinubu's visit to the state as both historic and an honour to the state.
While in the state, the president-elect will commission projects including a court building and a flyover -- the 12th constructed by Mr Wike's administration since he became governor in 2015.
"It is an honour to the government and people of Rivers State to host the President-elect on this historic visit. Consequently, I will urge all Rivers citizens to come out en mass to receive our President-Elect and display the traditional Rivers hospitality as he commissions these legacy projects to God's glory and the advancement of our development.
"I hereby declare Wednesday, 3 May a public holiday to enable the people of Rivers State to receive our President-elect in rousing welcome. All shops and business premises along Rumuola to Rumuokwuta Roads in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state shall remain closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Wednesday.
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"I urge all labour unions and security agencies to comply with the closure order," Mr Wike said.
Mr Wike said during Mr Tinubu's presidential campaign visit to the state, he indicated his intention to have him (Mr Tinubu), then-presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), commission some strategic projects in the state after the general elections.
Governor Wike, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led a group of PDP governors to rebel against his party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar on the grounds that he (Wike) and others were in support of a power shift to the south. They argued that since outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari is from the north, his successor should come from the south.
Mr Tinubu, the APC candidate, was on 1 March declared the winner of the 25 February presidential election.
According to the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mr Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State emerged winner of the election and also won in Rivers, a traditional PDP state for the first time since 1999.
