From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The campaign organization of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has frowned at the Executive Order 21, which was recently signed into law by Governor Nyesom Wike.
The Executive Order 21 prohibits the use of public schools for rallies without permission from the State Commissioner of Education.
Wike announced the signing of Order 21 into law in his recent state-wide broadcast, saying that the prohibitive law was part of the government’s responsibility to protect and secure public school infrastructure from damage or destruction.
He added that public place premises or facilities could be used for political rallies, only when the Commissioner of Education has approved the request, which would not be less than two weeks before the date of the rally and, payment of a non-refundable security fee of N5 million only.
Reacting to this Order 21, APC said it was an unfortunate attempt by the ruling government to stiffle the political space for opposition political parties in the state.
Spokesman, Tonye Cole Campaign Organization, Sogbeye Eli, described the Order as notorious, stressing that it would be very difficult for the opposition parties to secure approvals from governor Wike’s appointees.
Eli expressed: “We know that it will be easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than for the opposition parties to secure approvals from Wike’s appointees and cheerleaders.”
He berated the State House of Assembly, where they members had made themselves irrelevant, especially with the recent de-recognition of Celestine Omehia, as a former governor of Rivers State.
Eli declared: “The de-recognition of Omehia cannot be said to be a restoration of any legality. This de-recognition arose not as a correction of any past wrong or error. It is a display of punitive arrogance which is incompatible with the Rivers State we plan to lead.
The APC said no Rivers governor should run the state as a personal property, adding that punishing Omehia for supporting the Atiku Abubakar 2023 presidential quest was politics taken to levels of unprecedented absurdity.
“Asking Omehia by a resolution of the State House of Assembly to refund money he was paid on account of Wike’s recognition as a former governor is a product of poor thinking.
“The APC condemns in no uncertain terms the attempt to pull a wool of accountability over Rivers eyes by a politician who is hurting over his political miscalculations and indiscretions.
“We state unequivocally that Executive Order 21 is deliberate and part of the plot by the governor to stifle competition from other political parties.
“His actions bring the exalted office of the governor of Rivers State to disrepute and embarrasses our people in the commity of nations. It is highly unfortunate and disheartening that while the rest of the nation under President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership is opening up the electoral space for the free and fair participation of everybody regardless of political, religious or tribal inclinations, the governor in Rivers State is refusing to embrace change and attempting to take us back to the mud-era where only political pigs can swim.
Cole’s campaign organization called on Rivers people to condemn
Order 21, which was intended to suppress and oppress the opposition political parties in the state.
Eli, however, told the 23 local government chairmen in the state, who the governor had directed to enforce the Executive Order 21, that APC would carry out its election campaign in line with the Constitution.
He stated: “The chairmen of the 23 Local Government Councils in the State who have been directed by the governor to enforce the Executive Order 21, are hereby put on notice that the All Progressives Congress shall campaign with our candidates across the length and breadth of Rivers State as provided under the Constitution and as prescribed by law.
“We will neither succumb to intimidation nor accept the presentation of a fait accompli by Executive Order 21 to political parties other than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on which platform they and the governor were elected in the first place.
“We draw the attention of those to whom it may concern that the enforcement of that Order, howsoever, by the council chairmen would amount to a brazen affront on our constitutional rights as political parties and a campaign organization. We urge them to resist the lure of exercise of power that can only result in anarchy from the resistance of the parties and candidates targeted by the obnoxious Executive Order 21.
“Lastly, we want to assure Rivers people, that in 2023, we will have the opportunity to at long last, after nearly a decade in leadership wilderness, where hopelessness, joblessness and wickedness have been the order of the day, have the opportunity to freely choose their own leader who will respect them, who understands them, who will not abuse his powers, who understands the difference between politics and governance, and who will bring them development and restore the pride and dignity of the Rivers man.”