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… As Party Doubts ‘Genuineness’ of CP Eboka’s Security Meeting
The Rivers State chapter of the National Rescue Movement (NRM) has described Governor Nyesom Wike’s directive, as contained in Executive Order 21, as an attempt to foist anarchy on the state.
Governor Wike had through Order 21 prohibited the use of public school fields for political rallies without the approval of the state ministry of education, while directing that application for the use of such facility must be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the campaign.
The Executive Order also directs that applicants deposit the sum of five million Naira, and empowers local council chairmen to stop any rally if approval was not sought.
Addressing the media Monday in Port Harcourt, chairman of the NRM Rivers State chapter, Ibiyekaribo Peters, described the order as desperate move by Governor Nyesom Wike to surreptitiously use the instrumentality of the powers available to him to intimidate and shut up other political parties in the state to the benefit of his party.
In a statement co-signed by the party’s deputy governorship candidate, Rev Ley Nwikpor Torkia; national deputy chairman (South), Prof Lawson Ihuigweh; state deputy chairman, Johnny Zua; state secretary, Dr Blessing Chinda; publicity secretary, Sogbeye Isokariari; women leader, Iselema Jinyeima and Mrs Queen Offodile, Ibiyekaribo Peters further described the order as absurd.
“It is completely unacceptable for Governor Wike to make such pronouncement because Rivers State is owned by all of us and the facilities in question are not part of the personal estate of the governor, but built with the collective resources of citizens and especially that of tax payers in the state,” he said.
The NRM state chairman said Wike’s “current actions” gives cause for one to “begin to doubt the genuineness of the meeting of the state Commissioner of Police, AIG Friday Eboka, with political parties and candidates a fortnight ago.”
The CP had at the meeting requested that “outside the INEC guidelines to political parties, political parties in the state must obtain permission or inform the police commissioner two weeks before going to any LGA for campaign to avert clash of two parties.
“Well, suffice to say that the governor’s order 21 and the directive of the state Commissioner of Police, negate the provision of Section 91, (1), and particularly sub (4) of the new Electoral Act 2022, which states that ‘No registered political party in Nigeria, its aspirants or candidate shall be prevented from holding rallies, processions or meetings at any time for their constitutional political purposes, and the Police shall in a consultative manner, resolve any conflict of time and venue between and amongst parties where such arises”.
Peters further wondered how “Wike who is a beneficiary of these facilities during his election in 2015, who had unhindered access to various school fields while campaigning, enact such a draconian order on citizens of the state, to the extent of ordering council chairmen to disrupt political campaigns on failure of parties to comply with such law?
“This is also to confirm the alarm we raised earlier this year that the state government in a secret meeting directed LGA chairmen to use hoodlums and security agents within their command to disrupt our activities in their respective local government areas.
“It goes to show that this height of desperation exhibited by the governor proves that the PDP in Rivers State has lost its bearing and lacks what it takes to match up with other political parties in a free and fair contest at the polls,” he said.
He thus called on members of the Interparty Advisory Council – IPAC, civil society groups and all well-meaning citizens and stakeholders in Rivers State to rise up and resist this impunity and intimidation, while also urging President Muhammadu Buhari not to allow Governor Wike to use federal instruments like the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps and other law enforcement agencies to intimidate or harass citizens of the country
“We wish to remind Governor Wike that no successive governments in Rivers State created this level of tension, and intimidated their opponents the way he is doing right now, that was why he could emerge as a governor.
“We therefore advise the governor to use this twilight of his administration to concentrate in building bridges instead of making enemies, and urge him to rescind this decision, as it is capable of truncating the existing peace in the state and create chaotic atmosphere building up to the elections,” he said.
Describing Order 21 as a recipe for anarchy in the state, NRM’s South South zonal youth leader, Soibibo Sokari, reminded the state governor that in spite the then Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s attempt to deprive the Peoples Democratic Party of the use of the Adoki Amiesimaka Stadium in 2015, “the governor of Rivers State (Wike), as he is right now, forcefully took possession of the stadium for campaigns.”
He called on the governor to rescind the decision on Order 21 and allow the parties a level playing field.