Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has urged President Bola Tinubu to call IGP Kayode Egbetokun & FCT Minister Nyesom Wike to order “over brewing tension particularly created by the Police in their unprofessional handling of issues pertaining to the scheduled October 5 local government elections in Rivers State”.
Eze said the call became necessary given the series of biased indulgences of the Police to frustrate the LGA poll, “particularly the unlawful invasion of RSIEC office in Port Harcourt at 1am this morning by masked men in Police uniform who had mopped the facility to cart away sensitive materials intended for use for the election.
“Sadly the so-called Police Men were mobilised from neighbouring States in order to cause chaos in the State”.
In a statement on Friday, Chief Eze warned Police Officers to be wary of being deceived into a situation in which they find themselves as partisan agents of wrongdoers in the pursuit of their selfish private vendettas, stressing that if there exists a court order barring them from participating in the election, they should simply comply and steer clear rather than interfering to sabotage the process to service the ego of the FCT Minister.
Eze berated the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, over his surreptitious machinations in collaboration with the Police to frustrate the Rivers Local Government Election, describing it as a show of shame.
The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) had fixed the Council election following a presidential directive to Governors to ensure democratically elected council administration in the 774 LGAs in line with the recent Supreme Court judgement which frowned at the use of caretaker committees to run council administrations contrary to the letters of the constitution.
The apex court made several other orders including the immediate stoppage of statutory allocations to Local Government Councils without democratically elected officials.
“Unsettled with the development, the camp of the FCT Minister launched series of schemes to frustrate the election including a foiled attempt by former council chairmen loyal to the FCT Minister to perpetuate themselves in office beyond their exit date through an unlawful amendment of the state local government law by pro-Wike former lawmakers, which amendment was unturned by the court.
“They had also made attempts to shop judgements from some Judges who have turned their courts into cash and cary centres to stop the election.
“And just yesterday, they mobilised protesters to demonstrate against the planned election in a bid to curry public sympathy”.
Eze said the failed protest may not be the last resort of the FCT Minister and his team as intelligence report reveals a clandestine plot to scuttle the election across the state through cult boys who have been mobilised and briefed with assurances of police protection in that regard.
The APC Chief said Wike’s desperation is to see to the failure of Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s administration in order to have something to gloat over. All the political parties except PDP, are participating in the election. PDP opted out on the orders of Wike, yet the man who is not interested in LGA election is doing everything to frustrate the exercise.
The non-participation of pro-Wike PDP in the Rivers LGA election is a clear pointer to cowardice. “They know there won’t be any avenue for manipulation, that is why they opted out and started deploying schemes to sabotage the election, Wike strives in manipulation”, Eze alleged.
The party chieftain knocked the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State, Dr Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem, for turning himself into a spokesperson for the Pro Wike Group.
“From his comments, it is glaring that the REC does not know the limit of his job specification as an official of INEC. As a matter of fact, INEC has no business with state organised elections.
“The Rivers INEC REC should be reminded that Voters official register for Rivers State has long officially been in the custody of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and for him to wake up at this last minute to issue a baseless statement for a group of political clowns who are hellbent on destroying the state is disturbing”.
Eze called on Rivers people to disregard the dissenting voice of Wike whose indulgence clearly conflicts with the directive of his principal, President Tinubu, who desires to see local government administrations function optimally.
He urged Tinubu to call the FCT Minister and IGP to order in order not to throw Rivers State into anarchy. “It is the duty of the Governor to secure his state and where Police fail, the Governor is under obligation to live up to his constitutional responsibilities regardless of the way and how he intends to do so”.
While calling on voters to turn out en masse and vote candidates of their choice, Eze urged them not to yield to threats and intimidation from the camp of the FCT Minister and his band of stranded politicians.