Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that those who burnt<\/p>\n
the Bori office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,
\nare the same politicians who wrote to INEC seeking postponement of the
\nrerun elections on the ground of security.<\/p>\n
Addressing journalists after inspecting the burnt section\u00a0 of INEC Khana
\nLocal Government Office in Bori,\u00a0 Governor\u00a0 Wike\u00a0 said the arson should
\nnot serve as an excuse for the\u00a0 elections to the postponed.<\/p>\n
The governor regretted that politicians who are afraid of the rerun
\nelections would go to the extent of burning down public facility to
\nconvince INEC that the rerun elections should be shifted.<\/p>\n
He noted that no election materials have been deposited\u00a0 at the office,
\npointing out that the burnt section only serve as a hall for collation
\nHe said: “Those who burnt this office were not ready for the elections.
\nThey don’t want INEC to conduct the elections because they know that they
\ndon’t have the chances of winning.<\/p>\n
“They want to use the issue of security to justify\u00a0 the\u00a0 request for
\npostponement. If not, INEC\u00a0 has not\u00a0 brought\u00a0 election\u00a0 materials\u00a0 to this
\noffice. What they have done is to scare INEC. ”<\/p>\n
He added: “For us, we are not surprised. We know this is what they have
\nplanned to do.”<\/p>\n
He advised INEC\u00a0 not to be deterred by the arson. He noted that\u00a0 the
\ncommission\u00a0 should go ahead with the elections as scheduled.<\/p>\n
The governor directed the security agencies to fish out the perpetrators
\nof the crime. He advised politicians\u00a0 not to see elections as a do or die
\naffair, saying that they must submit themselves\u00a0 to the will of the
\npeople.<\/p>\n
He said: “We will make sure that this does not dampen the spirit of INEC.
\nI have directed the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Local Government
\nArea to immediately\u00a0 rebuild the\u00a0 burnt office”.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0 governor\u00a0 said\u00a0 that the state government will provide\u00a0 an
\nalternative office for INEC\u00a0 to conduct\u00a0 the\u00a0 July 30 elections\u00a0 in\u00a0 the
\narea. He said the people\u00a0 have been duly mobilised and they are ready to
\ncast their votes.<\/p>\n
Earlier,\u00a0 the\u00a0 Khana Divisional Police Officer, Stephen Okunade\u00a0 said
\nthere was no security at the INEC office at the time of\u00a0 the arson. He
\nsaid the lone private\u00a0 security guard was absent when the perpetrators
\nstruck.<\/p>\n
He added that the private guard who has been detained only returned while
\nthe office was burning.<\/p>\n
The governor was accompanied\u00a0 on the visit by the Deputy Commissioner of
\nPolice, Mr Uche Anozie and top government functionaries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that those who burnt the Bori office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, are the same politicians who wrote to INEC…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n