The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom
Wike, has declared that the peace accord signed by the President candidates of
the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the All Progressives Congress, APC, and
others, will not work.
Wike described it as a mere
ceremony, adding that the people of Rivers State will not fold their arms and
watch the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and security
agencies rig election for the APC.
The Governor said INEC cannot be
trusted to conduct credible polls this year because of the inconsistent actions
of the commission.
Wike also noted that the failure
of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the amended Electoral Act was a sign that
the president is not committed to credible polls.
Wike spoke in an interview on
Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
According to him, “INEC has
different interpretations of judgements depending on where it is coming from.
“When the court nullified the
Rivers All Progressives Congress, APC, primaries, a lawyer of one of the
factions wrote to INEC not to recognise any candidate because of the judgment.
INEC wrote to APC notifying them of outcome of that judgment.
“INEC merely said they were in
receipt of the letter requesting that INEC should obey. In the case of Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, INEC wrote to PDP in Ogun State, where Buruji (Kashamu)
dragged the party to court, telling them they will comply.
“When there is a judgement
against PDP, there is immediate enforcement. When it concerns APC, INEC says
they are studying the judgement. In the case of Ogun State PDP, INEC quickly
obeyed the judgement.
“I was shocked that the president
did not sign the Electoral Act. In my matter, the Supreme Court appreciated the
card reader, but said it was not backed by law. They called for the Electoral
Act to be amended for more credible polls.
“He said he wants to leave a
legacy of free and fair elections, but he refused to sign the Electoral Act
that will facilitate the process. If Mr. President had signed the Electoral
Act, it would have made it difficult to manipulate. But he refused to sign the
law.”
Wike alleged that the electoral
umpire had been involved in several under-the-table actions in Rivers State
since 2015.
He said during the rerun
elections, INEC connived with the Police to deny the people of Rivers East
senatorial district their rightful mandate.
He added that INEC and security
agencies should commit themselves working towards credible polls, noting that
INEC and security agencies should sign a pact to respect the tenets of the
Electoral Act.
“The peace accord is a ceremony.
It is a mere public display. The peace accord cannot work because they are not
sincere. INEC and security should sign peace accord because they are the ones
who create circumstances for electoral violence.
“They try to manipulate the
process against the will of the people,” he said.
The governor noted that security
agencies had played negative roles in over-heating the polity in Rivers State.
“It is INEC and security that
don’t want us to have peaceful elections in Rivers State. Why do they want to
capitalize on the claim that politicians are the ones that compel them to act
illegally.
“Rivers people are peaceful, the
only time we have crisis is when we see the electoral umpire being biased and
security agencies working against due process in elections. We will continue to
resist it,” he added.
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