In the leadup to Saturday’s Rivers State rerun elections, the National Secretariat of the All Progresssives Congress (APC) is worried by the fresh death threats issued by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), especially singling out Mrs. Amina Zakari, an INEC National Commissioner who has a record of supervising some of the most credible, free and fair elections by INEC in the past.
The Rivers State governor has also issued dangerous threats against Nigerian Army, warning all to sign their will before they come to conduct elections in the state on Saturday.
Similarly, APC also views Wike’s petition to the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), Africa Union (AU) and the governments of about 50 countries demanding “global surveillance” for the Rivers rerun election as an affront to the 1999 Constitution, INEC and Federal Government’s power.
Wike has been in the forefront of inciting the people of Rivers State against INEC and the Nigerian Army. On Tuesday, he accused INEC Commissioner Amina Zakari of an unsubstantiated and cooked up plot to swap election result sheets in the yet-to-be-conducted election. He went ahead to issue a death threat against the INEC Commissioner over the unsubstantiated and cooked up plot.
The APC takes Wike’s death threats and campaign of calumny against INEC and the Nigerian Army seriously.
Under his watch, the country and indeed the international community have been traumatised by the daily lynching, maiming, killing and beheading of APC members and supporters in Rivers State.
The APC believes that Wike’s repeated threats to INEC to “write their will” before coming to conduct elections in the state is real and must be looked into by relevant security agencies.
In a statement by Mai Mala Buni, APC National Secretary, the party calls on relevant security agencies to hold Nyesom Wike responsible for any breakdown of law and order before, during and after the March 19, 2016 Rivers State rerun elections.
The party also welcomes President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to security services to deal decisively with sponsors and perpetrators of political violence in Rivers State. The Police and other security agencies must ensure that the murderers and their sponsors are brought to book and must face the full wrath of the law.
APC reiterates that the politically-motivated killings in Rivers State are a real emergency that should not be treated with kid gloves. The situation is distressing, tragic and a huge source of worry to the party.
It also called on security agencies to be on high alert over the dangerous threats and actions by Rivers state governor, Nyesom Wike and by extension the PDP in the lead-up to the Rivers rerun election.
While we call on INEC and security operatives to be mindful of the dangerous threats by the Rivers State Governor, APC is confident of INEC and the security agencies’ ability to deliver peaceful, free and credible supplementary election on Saturday.