Rivers LG polls: Wike, APC draw battle line
- Governor Nyeson Wike and the APC have drawn a battle line over Saturday’s local council elections in Rivers state
- The governor accused three top APC leaders in the state of arming thugs in a bid to scare away voters from polling booths
- The APC however pointed out that it is not taking part in the ‘sham elections’, and accused the governor of stirring up the polity so he can frame up PDP members who have decided to vote against his candidates
Ahead of the controversial local government elections scheduled for Saturday, June 16, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state and the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), have drawn a battle-line, The Nation reports.
Wike accused the APC and its leaders in Rivers state of planning to cause mayhem and disrupt the elections in Abua/Odual, Akuku-Toru, Asari-Toru, Degema, Emohua, Ikwerre, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Opobo/Nkoro, and Tai, during a state broadcast on Thursday, June 14.
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Legit.ng gathers that the governor also alleged that those behind what he described as the ‘satanic plot’, were the Rivers APC chairman, Ojukaye Flag-Amachree, Nigeria’s Ambassador to The Netherlands Oji Ngofa and a former Rivers Commissioner for Agriculture, Emma Chindah.
According to Wike, thugs had been hired by the three individuals, and given guns, to create an atmosphere of insecurity in the mentioned councils and other LGAs of the state. The governor alleged that the aim is to scare voters away from polling stations.
In reaction however, the APC publicity secretary for Rivers state, Chief Chris Finebone, stated that Wike had simply labeled angry PDP members threatening the sham and illegal council polls, as members of the APC.
He stated: “Thursday morning, Rivers people and members of the APC were subjected to a piece of broadcast, in which Wike blurted out hardly legible lines in the name of a state broadcast concerning the sham local government council elections, in which he clearly mentioned some leaders of the APC he claimed were working to disrupt the sham polls in the state.
“It is absolutely important to quickly mention that the APC, its leaders and members across Rivers State have no stake in the sham local council elections and have no reason at all to consider or disrupt a process we have clearly distanced ourselves from and made such position known to the world.
“In the broadcast, Wike was simply showcasing his typical self by shying away from the groundswell of protests by cheated PDP members who have told him to his face that they will disrupt the sham council polls, especially in the LGAs he enumerated in his broadcast.
“It is clear without doubt that by dragging the names of the APC and its leaders into the fray, Wike was merely pre-empting the disruption his disgruntled party men and women have vowed to visit on the sham elections on Saturday.
“Attempting to place his fears at the doorsteps of the APC is the typical pedestrian and cowardly indwelling traits of the man called Wike.
“It is all too glaring to see that the target of Wike in the broadcast is to frame up his own members who may have agreed to vote out the candidates the Rivers governor imposed on their party against popular opinion of their members.
“It is noteworthy to state and Wike knows it that no APC member will get close to any polling booth. The Rivers governor harping so strongly about people voting and defending their votes is merely to frame up PDP members who have decided to vote for and defend the interest of their popular candidates against the choice Wike imposed on them.
“The APC leaders Wike listed in his broadcast are all out of Rivers state on various national and international assignments. Flag-Amachree and Chindah have been in Abuja and Lagos respecteively. Ngofa is in faraway Netherlands where he is the Nigerian Ambassador.
“Wike does not know the difference between political propaganda and outright white lies unbefitting of the high office of a governor.”
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Governor Nyesom Wike on disqualified all the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirants for the chairmanship election in Degema local government area.
The governor, through a statement issued by his media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu accused the aspirants of being involved in violence during the primary to choose the PDP councillorship candidates.
Wike said their disqualification would serve as a deterrent to other politicians who may want to be involved in violence.
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu speaks about the local government election in Lagos state - on Legit.ng TV:
Source: Legit.ng
