…As Peterside backs senate on rerun
By: Felix Ikpotor
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that with the type of fraud that the present Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is involved in, Nigerians should brace up for the theft of mandates in 2019.
The governor who stated this while addressing the National Executive Council of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Thursday, said that INEC has been manipulating the electoral process in Rivers State because it was directed to favour the politician who diverted Rivers State funds and used same to sponsor a particular political party.
He said: “If INEC goes on with this type of electoral fraud, then Nigeria is in trouble in 2019. What type of country are we living in when there is open electoral stealing?
” They want to allocate seats to a man who took our money to sponsor their party . They said they don’t want to embarrass him for giving them our money.
The governor berated INEC for attempting to smuggle in a concocted result of Tai Local Government Area , which was one of the eight local government areas where elections were suspended by INEC on March 19, 2016.
He said: “It is shocking and embarrassing that several months after INEC suspended elections in eight Local Government Areas, it has come up to concoct fake results for Tai Local Government Area . “
The governor noted that the state will never succumb to the intimidation and blackmail of political authorities who plan to use INEC to impose legislators on the state.
“I don’t believe in violence, but nobody should trample with our rights “, he said.
On the amnesty programme of his administration, Governor Wike said that though the repentant cultists and kidnappers will not be offered cash, they will be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society.
He added that the development programme of his administration would be felt in all the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.
In his remarks , President of the Ijaw National Congress , Alatubo Charles Piriye Harry commended Governor Wike for his developmental strides , assuring him of the support of Ijaws in the discharge of the people’s mandate.
He lauded the governor for the reconstruction of the Bonny Jetty which will serve the marine transport needs of several Ijaw communities.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 general elections, Dr Dakuku Peterside has welcomed the directive of the Senate to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct outstanding re-run elections in the state not later than December 10, 2016.
According to him, the APC in Rivers State is ready for the re-run and would use the opportunity to prove that the party will win any election in a free and fair atmosphere devoid of threats, killing and intimidation.
Dakuku called on INEC to ensure that it makes necessary arrangements for the re-run and put in place measures that would make it difficult for electoral thugs to cause violence and intimidate voters.
He tasked the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike to stop intimidating INEC officials and ad-hoc staff with death threats but should rather cooperate with the Commission to ensure successful poll. ” Threat to the electorate by a Governor is demeaning of the office and smacks of the height of uncouthness and you can be sure that the people will resist him” said Dr Peterside.
Dakuku, who is also the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), said APC would win all outstanding elections in the state as it was on ground and has credible candidates that have been tested and proven.
The NIMASA boss called on the Senate to also look into issues in the Rivers State House of Assembly where two members of the APC, Hons Victoria Nyeche and Andrew Miller have been refused inauguration into the State Assembly despite winning their respective elections and issued certificates of return by INEC. He urged National Assembly to call Gov Wike to order.
Dakuku, a former member of the House of Representatives, appealed to the Senate to compel the Rivers State House of Assembly to swear-in the members of APC without further delay.
