Tony John, Port Harcourt
One of the newly registered political parties, the Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), m has charged the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), to provide a level playing ground for parties during the June 16, local government areas election.
The GPN has also said that the land of Nigeria and Rivers State in particular, are sick and requires prayers to overcome the challenges confronting them.
Speaking with journalists, in Port Harcourt, the South-South coordinator of the party, Alpine Whyte, said GPN was prepared to dislodge established parties like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC), in the June 16, local government election.
Whyte urged RSIEC to give an open field and conduct the election without bias, to allow the political parties prove their worth to the electorate.
He said: “The party is prepared to go into elections. Sixteenth of June, 2018, is the local government elections. We have no fear. We have confidence to go in. We are not just going in to participate, we are going in to make a difference.
“All we need is the umpire to be open. They (RSIEC) should give us a level playing ground to go into this game. We have had situations where one party will have the entire 23 local government chairmen and 319 councillors, which we know, is not possible.
“We have men that are accepted in their wards. We have men that are accepted in their communities and we have carefully looked at it and we have brought out people. We didn’t superimpose on them. We allowed the communities and the various compounds to bring out people they wanted and we know that this are tested and trusted people.
“But, what we will not take in this election is a situation where one man will sit somewhere and announce results. We will not take it because we have carefully looked at our people. We have screened them and they have the prerequisite to run and we are very confident we are going to win.
“But, 2019, is going to be a different ball game and that is why we are here and GPN has come to change the narrative. I don’t see them (APC and PDP) as giants. I see them as grasshoppers and I know that the supposed giants you are seeing, there are people who made them giants and those people who made them giants are the people who are here”, Whyte claimed.
Earlier, the party staged a “prayer walk” in preparation for 2019 general elections in Port Harcourt, the State.
According to Whyte, the reason for the street prayer was to ask for God’s intervention in the affairs of the State and Nigeria, especially through the party.
Whyte said: “The land of Nigeria is sick. The land of Rivers State is sick. Things have gone abnormally. Things are no longer the way it is supposed to be and we cannot continue to fold our hands and watch things go this way. This is a new party that has come to do things in a democratic way; and, if we don’t start it right, we might miss it at the end of the day.
“So, we came together as a party and we told ourselves that, we would come out and we will walk and march in the streets of Port Harcourt in Rivers State. As we lift our hands, pray and cry unto God, God will heal this land.
“You have seen the killings and abnormalities in this country, it is not normal. It is an insane situation. We want God to intervene in the affairs of this country, that is why we have come out”, Whyte said.
