The Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has condemned
the underserved verbal assaults Gov. Nyesom Wike is unleashing on key
stakeholders in the March 19 Rivers State rerun elections especially his
accusations of partiality against Mrs. Amina Zakari, a National INEC
Commissioner and the Nigerian Army.
The APC in a press statement signed by its Spokesman, Senibo Chris Finbone
said it finds the accusation by the governor that Mrs. Zakari is on a
mission to swap elections results with fake ones as outlandish and coming
from a convoluted, polluted and troubled mind that lays claim to being a
master of election rigging.
The party reminded Gov. Nyesom Wike that Mrs. Amina Zakari has an
excellent record of supervising some of the relatively best elections by
INEC in the past and no amount of frustration from politicians with fast
declining fortunes and zero moral reputation like Nyesom Wike can tarnish
her record or demoralise her spirit in conducting free, fair and credible
rerun elections in Rivers State come March 19.
The recent attacks on Mrs. Amina Zakari by Gov. Nyesom Wike according to
the APC, “seems to be a corollary to his earlier repeated death threats to
INEC personnel when he advised them to write their will before coming to
conduct the rerun elections in Rivers State. Therefore, his present
vituperation appears to be the beginning of implementing his earlier
threat. Wike had this to say yesterday: “All those who plan to swap result
sheets, may their souls rest in peace. Nobody will rig in Rivers State.”
He did not say that the law will take care of such violators of the law.”
The APC who noted that it abhors and does not engage in rigging and other
electoral malpractices, said “our party fails to understand whether it is
within the powers of Gov. Wike to apprehend, try and kill suspected
violators of the law. What is clear from Wike’s threats is that killings
have become his past time and that he can chose to visit death on anyone.
Another glaring point from his utterances is that he is unwittingly
exposing how he rigged elections in the past especially the 2015
elections. As a result, rigging has become entrenched on his psyche and
the eternal fear of rigging throws him into fits of nightmare every now
and then.”
The statement read further: “The APC believes that the Nigerian Army has
taken due notice of the media war Gov. Nyesom Wike has launched directly
and sometimes through paid agents against it just to stampede and
demoralise the army from ensuring that criminality is checked in Rivers
State. Rather than commend and support the Army for providing support to
the Police who appear overwhelmed by the spate of violence by the
governor’s supporters, Gov. Wike has decided to orchestrate a campaign of
calumny and blackmail against members of the military who put their lives
on the line to safeguard the citizenry and make Rivers State safe.
“Members of the APC have watched with consternation as Gov. Wike
recklessly insults and assaults the Nigerian Army and sometimes
threatening them.
“The APC can only offer Gov. Nyesom Wike a free advice. If he is serious
about confronting the army on election day and forcing himself into INEC
office, it might be needful for him to WRITE HIS WILL because the Army
does not take prisoners very often.”