Rivers gov candidates accuse Wike of exercising power illegally
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Some governorship candidates in Rivers have protested at the state police headquarters in Port Harcourt over alleged intimidation by Governor Nyesom Wike in the run up to the gubernatorial and state Assembly elections today.
They protesters are Magnus Abe (Social Democratic Party, SDP) Tonye Cole, (All Progressives Congress, APC), Dumo Lulu-Briggs (Accord Party, AP), and Tonte Ibraye (African Democratic Congress, ADC).
Abe faulted Wike’s directive to security agencies to arrest and prosecute some politicians on the allegation of plotting to disrupt the election, saying he has no power to do so.
“Most of those people named in that broadcast by the Governor are simply those who have been campaigning for other political parties,” Abe stressed.
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Wike violating the law, they say
“A lot of them are members of the SDP, including a Nigerian citizen who just flew into this country just to come and participate in this election and cast his vote as a citizen of this country, Abe said, via reporting by The PUNCH.
“Because he put up billboards for the SDP and mobilised voters to come out for the SDP, his name has been included as somebody who is to be apprehended and arrested.
“It is actually the responsibility of the Nigerian Police to declare anybody wanted.”
Cole said the protest is a multi-party decision, claiming opposition parties are victimised, intimidated, and their members arrested.
Lulu-Briggs added the alarm being raised is not just by the candidates as Rivers voters are also jittery.
“We want to ask the police to make sure that people have confidence in the system,” he stressed.
But Information and Communications Commissioner Chris Finebone denied the allegations, insisting Wike and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would never indulge in such a despicable act.
