Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said enemies of the state are working against collation of election results in the state.
The governor said this at the Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday, when the National Working Committee of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), led by the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, paid a solidarity visit to the state, yesterday.
PDP said it was illegal for anyone to stop an election collation midway.
Said Wike: “The police is trying to intimidate collation and electoral officers by inviting them for one offence or the other, so as to impinge on the collation process.
“Imagine where the police is inviting the entire returning officers, the entire electoral officers because allegations have been made against INEC officials. This is just to let the entire world see what we are talking about .”
The governor said that the enemies of the state continue to roll out strategies to destroy the governorship election collation process.
“They go by this strategy, if it fails, they go by the other strategy. They brought the Army, it failed. They have gone to the court and now they want to use the police”.
Governor Wike said that the good people of Rivers State will overcome all the challenges thrown at the state by the system.
“Like I said, this victory will be the best. It will be the sweetest among all the states. That is what I see coming. There is no election that will be held in this state and another party will win, not to talk about a party that is not on ground. They have failed and that is the truth of the matter”, he said.
Governor Wike said the political situation in Rivers has exposed the negative aspects of the system.
“In the end, PDP will emerge victorious in this state. It is a victory that can be delayed, but not denied.
“This morning, the other political party went to court to stop collation. As God will have it, the court did not grant them their request.
“You see how funny it is. The candidate of AAC said he won the election. The same candidate has gone to court to stop collation and seek for the cancellation of an election, he claimed that he won,” he said.
On his part, Secondus called “on the INEC chairman not to drag the country into crisis because of inconclusive elections. This manoeuvre is not good for the nation’s democracy.
“He should go ahead and conclude the process of elections in Rivers and Bauchi States. We should move ahead. Those aggrieved should approach the tribunal”, he said.
The National Secretary Ibrahim Tasuri, also said the military should concentrate on protecting the nation’s territorial integrity instead of getting involved in election matters. He said that the negative involvement of the military in the Rivers State governorship election was a threat to nation’s democracy.
“The military should protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria. They should not be involved in electoral matters. The involvement of the military in the governorship election of Rivers State is an attempt to truncate the nation’s democracy”, he said.
He called on INEC, security agencies and the All Progressives Congress (APC) -led Federal Government, to work within the law at all times. He described Wike as “a pillar of the party, who worked for the PDP when it mattered most.”