…even as AAC candidate coasts to victory
*Congratulates security agencies for allowing peaceful elections in Rivers
Security agencies, especially the armed forces, have been charged to step up guards around the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Rivers state as he has reportedly come under an unusual pressure from the State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to manipulate results of yesterday’s election in his favour.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, who raised the alarm in a statement issued and circulated in Port Harcourt on Sunday, explained that the Rivers State Governor, on hearing that the results trickling out from various units and some collation centres across the state have rather been in favour of the African Action Congress (AAC) governorship candidate, Engr. Awara Biokpomabo, started mounting pressure on the State’s REC to declare him winner even before the collation of results is concluded.
Eze reported to justify the pressure on the REC that Gov. Wike in his desperation have kidnapped some APC chieftains including Hon. Chikordi Dike, Hon. Dr. Lawrence Chuku, Hon. Alex Wele, even Electoral Officers in his Obio-Akpor LGA and Electoral materials to an unknown destination.where he is currently busy writing and dictating the results of his Local Government Area being the most populated Local Government Area in Rivers State. Primetimes newspaper also reported that most of the electoral officers in the Governor’s LG refused to announce the results of their Units as demanded by the law in order to perfect this heinous act against democracy and the future of Rivers State.
His Senator elect for the South East senatorial district, Barry Mpigi have acted in similar manner in Khana LGA Election that up to 4pm on the election day there was no single polling unit in the whole of Khana LGA that experienced election while buses are parked at the LGA RAC without movement with INEC non-sensitive materials abandoned as reports have it that result sheets of the entire LGA have been hijacked by PDP for them to start writing their own result without allowing elections to hold in the local government area. There is a report that the returning officer for the LGA is the brother of the PDP Senator-Elect of Rivers South East Senatorial District.
According to Eze, not minding all these desperado acts on the side of the governor, and his Team is not at easy having realized that he was bound to lose fairly at the ballots and has been unable to compromise the military and other security agencies on ground across the State, initiated his other option of unleashing an illegal security outfit, which had been proscribed by the Nigerian Army: the Neighborhood Watch, on the various collation centers across the State. The Neighborhood Watch has been described as Governor Wike’s personal army.
“Chief Nyesom Wike the Executive Governor of Rivers State and the strongman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in all his political career have never been outwitted in his own game but frightened to a level where he is on his knees pleading and cajoling the INEC REC in charge of Rivers State to declare him the winner in the gubernatorial election of last Saturday based on his illegal collation of results forcefully obtained even as he is aware that Engr Awara, the AAC candidate, is leading him with a wide margin of votes based on the authentic rrsults across the State not minding that INEC has not concluded collation of authenic results from the local government areas.
“Governor Wike, in setting on his devious plot, has, after casting his vote at Unit 7, Ward 9 of Obio-Akpor local government area of Rivers state, praised INEC and boasted that he is optimistic of winning the governorship election in the state, saying ‘We’ve gotten the victory, I’m quite satisfied and I’m sure we are going to win the elections very well’. This assertion by the Governor was widely reported by the newspapers particularly the Channels TV.
“Surprisingly, after boasting that no force will stop him from winning the 2019 gubernatorial election, based on his thinking that after crippling and truncating the chances of other political parties from fielding candidates against him that he will have an easy ride to the Brick House, but to his shock when his mentor and lecturer on political strategies, Rt Hon Dr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, came up with the AAC formula, the governor and his misguided cohorts knew that the game is up and instead of accepting his fate when it dawned on him, based on the reports from his men in the fields that the game was up, he decided to explore his usual tactics by attempting to arm-twist and threaten the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) to declare him winner, even when INEC has yet to conclude collation of results from the local government areas.
“Wike resulted to self-help as all efforts to compromise the military fell on deaf ears, he has been mobilizing his private army also known as the Neighborhood Watch, to carry out final collation and announcement of fake results by INEC EOs across the local government areas”, Eze revealed.
Eze, however said that the development is not only condemnable, but gives reasons why the security agencies should beef up security on the REC and his entire staff before he succumbs to the antics of Governor Wike, which may plunge the state into unprecedented crisis.
He maintained that Rivers State people had, through their votes, overwhelmingly rejected Wike, adding “their position must be respected, no matter the odds, as they can no longer condone or support a failed government that doesn’t have anything good to offer to them except suffering, penury and insecurity”.
He also congratulated the security agencies for crippling the activities of the militants that made it possible for the people of the State to have a peaceful exercise during the presidential and National Assembly elections two weeks ago.
He finally, urged the federal government and the security agencies not to abandon Rivers state at this crucial period and not to leave any stone unturned in order to protect the law abiding citizens of the State.
