TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has told President Muhammadu Buhari that Rivers people will never support violence as being orchestrated by leaders of Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking during an interactive session between President Muhammadu Buhari and traditional rulers of Rivers State in Port Harcourt, Governor Wike said leaders who have imported war songs, will not succeed.
The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, at the APC presidential campaign rally, sang a war song in Igbo language, threatening to unleash violence on Rivers during the forthcoming elections.
“Rivers State does not believe in violence and we will not support any dance for violence. Those, who sing other people’s song for violence, they know what they achieve. They know what they gain,” he said.
Governor Wike assured Nigerians that the evil plots to fuel violence by the APC would fail.
“I want to assure the president that Rivers State is a peaceful state. It will never be a violent state. I will not support violence and Rivers people will not support violence,” he said.
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In his address, the Chairman of Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers, King Dandeson Douglas Jaja, urged President Buhari to ensure that security agencies act professionally during the forthcoming elections.
He said that security agencies should not join the fray and complicate the issues of electoral violence.
The Rivers traditional rulers lamented the closure of the seaports in the state, which had negatively affected the economy of the area.
They called for a restructuring of the country so that all parts of the federation would grow at their own pace and control their resources.
The traditional rulers called for free, fair and credible polls in Rivers State. They appealed to the president to check the tide of violence in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari stated that law enforcement agencies would be asked to respect Nigerians and that elections would be free and fair.
The president said nobody would be allowed to intimidate people, adding that the snatching of ballot boxes would be discouraged.
Buhari said that his administration had achieved the three cardinal points of his 2015 campaign, saying that security, economy and fight against corruption had witnessed improvements.