The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of finalising plans to kill the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, in a bid to have a leeway to rig the Saturday re-run parliamentary election in the state dailyindepent reports.
The party in raising the allegation said the motive was the real reason behind the reduction of the official security men of the governor and the recent withdrawal of the chief security officer (CSO) to the governor on Monday.
The opposition party alleged that the mastermind of the plot was the immediate past governor of the state and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, acting under the instructions of the APC top leadership.
Dayo Adeyeye, National Publicity Secretary of the party, who signed the statement on behalf of the caretaker committee of the party, however, warned that the APC, Amaechi and the police top chiefs will be held accountable should anything untoward happen to the Rivers State governor.
Withdrawal Of CSO Unconstitutional
Before the security details of the governor were withdrawn, the governor had raised the alarm that he is been marked for assassination by some interests within the APC.
The party stated that the withdrawal of Governor Wike’s security detail is unconstitutional and should be reversed immediately.
“Nigerians will recall that Governor Wike alerted on the plots of enemies led by government at the center to murder him. A serious indication was the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, Mr. Folusho Adebanjo, working on the order of desperate APC led Federal Government withdrew more than 70 percent of security personnel details to the Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt.
“Governor Wike has written two letters to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) reporting this obvious breach of his constitutional rights which has received no response but instead the CSO, who happens to be the governor’s number one line of defence, was withdrawn as the reply from the IGP.
“This latest development has confirmed that the former governor of Rivers State and now Minister of Transport, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, in collaboration with his party’s led Federal Government and its security agencies, has finalised plans to assassinate the governor of Rivers State.
“This is despicable and a complete affront and declaration of war on Rivers people using the apparatus of the state”, the statement said.
PDP Alleges APC Wants To Rig Polls
The PDP went further to raise allegations that the APC was doing all these with a view to rigging the election on Saturday.
The statement reads further, “This has again confirmed the serious desperation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to win elections at all cost with no single consideration to the lives of Nigerians. It is common knowledge that since the inception of this government, the APC leaders have approached elections in the country with different rigging methods.
“For the records, the APC used ‘inconclusive elections’ to rig Kogi, Nasarawa, Imo and some other by-elections but failed in Bayelsa and Rivers states. In Edo State, the APC in collaboration with INEC and the security agencies postponed the election on the pretext of security threats in order to perfect their rigging plans which they successfully implemented during the poll.
“The latest was the Ondo State gubernatorial election which the APC again deployed another method to rig the election in advance by causing Justice Okon Abang of FCT High Court and INEC to delist the name of our candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, for three weeks thereby incapacitating him from campaigning and selling the manifesto of our party to the electorate in Ondo State. On the forthcoming Rivers re-run, they have shifted and delayed the elections for no genuine reasons.
PDP Accuses APC Of Trying To Kill Wike
“The new method being applied by the APC against the Rivers re-run elections now is the withdrawal of security details of the governor in order to expose him to danger of assassination and possibly intimidate him to succumb to their rigging plans.
“This is not acceptable and if anything happens to the governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, his family or any of our party members or supporters in Rivers State, Rivers people and indeed all Nigerians should hold Chibuike Amaechi and his party leaders responsible.
“The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear on the grounds by which the security of a sitting governor can be withdrawn.
“This is a big slap on our constitution and must be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians before the APC reverses all the gains of democracy we have nurtured since 1999.
“We, therefore, call on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, and the Director General of State Security Services (SSS), Lawal Daura, to as a matter of urgency restore all the security details of Governor Nyesom Wike and to secure the Government House, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
“Failure to do this before the Saturday, December 10, 2016 re-run election is indirectly calling on Rivers people to resort to self-help.
“Finally, we call on all Nigerians to pray fervently for the survival of our hard earned democracy under this suffocating APC led Federal Government. Our democracy is in serious danger and if proper care is not taken we might be heading to anarchy. A stitch in time saves nine”.
God, Rivers People Will Protect Me—Wike
Meanwhile, Governor Nyesom Wike on Tuesday said he has committed the security of his life in the hands of God and the people of the state who freely elected him as their governor.
The governor, who had claimed there is a calculated plan to assassinate him, had raised an alarm on Monday, saying his chief security officer and several policemen were withdrawn from Government House, Port Harcourt.
The governor also claimed that the Rivers police command effected the transfer of 500 senior and junior police officers from the state.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the state’s Commissioner for Information and Communications, Austin Tam-George, the state government said the plot to assassinate the governor before Saturday is real, adding that the withdrawal of the CSO is a primitive display of power by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The withdrawal of Governor Wike’s CSO is a primitive display of power by the ruling APC government. They are obviously going ahead with the plan to assassinate the governor before the elections on Saturday.
“But let the word go out that we will never be intimidated by a party which is now widely discredited for its incompetence, visionlessness and empty martial pride. The Rivers people have rejected the APC as a party erected on a sewage of propaganda and deception.
“We will defend our sovereign right to choose our leaders. No force can stop the free will of the Rivers people. The Rivers people will protect the governor they freely elected”, the statement said.
When asked the reason for the removal of the governor’s CSO, Tam-George said no reason was given to the state government for the action.
“They gave no reasons for withdrawing the CSO. They don’t explain to anybody. They are law to themselves. We don’t even know who gave the order for his withdrawal. What we know is that the man was redeployed. We see it as a way of preparing the grounds for his eventual resignation”, he said.
Fayose Confirms PDP’s Allegation
Similarly, Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti State, on Tuesday raised the alarm over alleged plot to kill his counterpart in Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, before the Saturday’s re-run elections in Rivers.
Fayose revealed that intelligence report from top security sources at his disposal, vividly confirmed that there was an alleged subterranean plan to place Governor Wike on house arrest commencing from Thursday to give way for the rigging of the scheduled polls.
The governor said he has it on good authority that those plotting the nefarious act would not hesitate to kill the governor if he resists the plan.
Fayose said the Monday alleged withdrawal of Governor Wike’s chief security officer was a prelude to the planned criminal intention of those he branded “as potential dangers to the country’s democracy.”
He said: “As governors, we have our own spectacular ways of gathering information and security information at my disposal revealed clearly that there was alleged plot to place Governor Wike under house arrest on Thursday, December 9 over Saturday’s re-run elections.
“And part of their evil plans was that the plotters will not hesitate to deal with him (Governor Wike) if he resists the attempt. And let me say expressly that the Federal Government must be held responsible if anything happens to Governor Wike.
“Let me make it public now that the intention is to place him on house arrest commencing from Thursday to Friday and I can’t keep quiet over this serious issue.
“With this, it is evidently clear that democracy is in danger, we can all see that democracy is being muzzled. The Monday withdrawal of Governor Wike’s CSO, a man saddled with the responsibility of managing, protecting and keeping the governor goes to show that the governor’s life is under serious threat.
“As I speak to you now, anything can happen to Governor Wike before weekend and if anything happens to him based on this evil plan, Nigerians know who to hold.”
APC Dismisses Allegation
Reacting, the APC dismissed the alarm raised by the opposition PDP over allegation of plot to eliminate Wike.
The ruling APC in denying any plot to eliminate the governor, however, turned around to accuse him of arms buildup ahead of the re-run parliamentary elections in the state.
But the ruling party did not say anything about the allegations raised by the PDP that the chief security officer (CSO) to the governor was withdrawn to make him (Wike) vulnerable to attack.
The APC in a statement issued by its the National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, charged the security agencies to keep watch on the state and most importantly on the governor who, it said, was perfecting plans to cause mayhem during the election.
“The report by the Rivers State government and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alleging the withdrawal of Wike’s security aides and an assassination threat on the governor is a hoax meant to deflect attention from the reports of arms buildup and other sinister plots the Wike-led PDP administration plans to execute on election day.
“Nobody is after Wike. The governor and the PDP’s diversionary and false alarm is hinged on the reality that they will lose the legislative re-run elections once security is tightened in Rivers State.
“Again, the PDP and the Rivers State governor are haunted by their horrible past misdeeds. Nigerians recall how Wike, then a PDP minister used federal institutions to harass, intimidate and threaten the life of perceived political enemies particularly Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, who was then governor of Rivers State. Under Wike’s watch, political thugs and criminal gangs have continued to kill and maim APC members and innocent citizens in Rivers State”, the APC said.
The ruling party stated that the Federal Government under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to organising free, fair and credible elections with a promise that the planned re-run elections in Rivers State won’t be different.
“The President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration has successively demonstrated the will to ensure that all elections are free, transparent and credible. Saturday’s legislative re-run elections in Rivers will not be different. The administration does not subscribe to such evil machinations where government institutions are used to achieve political ends.
“The APC hereby calls on security agencies to investigate the report of an arms build-up and be on high alert over the security situation in Rivers State under Wike’s watch and by extension the PDP in the lead-up to the Rivers legislative re-run election. Wike’s criminal gangs and PDP thugs must not be allowed to steal the votes of the Rivers electorate on Saturday”, the statement reads further.
INEC Deploys 10,294 Staff For Election
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it would deploy 10,294 staff to conclude the re-run National and State Assembly elections in Rivers scheduled for Saturday.
INEC which stated this in its daily bulletin issued on Tuesday in Abuja said that 14 categories of staff would be deployed to make up the 10,294 figure.
The categories, according to the commission, will include three returning officers for the three Senatorial Districts (DC); eight returning officers for federal constituencies (FC) and 10 returning officers for state constituencies (SC).
INEC added that the categories include 23 local government areas (collation officers; 221 registration area (RA), collation officers; 57 collation officers (for collation only at RAs and 231 supervisory presiding officers.
Also to be deployed, it said, were 1,840 presiding officers; 6,609 assistant presiding officers (I, II and III) and 661 assistant presiding officers (APOs).
Others are 363 reserve APOs; 21 constituency supervisors; 24 LGA supervisors and 223 RA supervisors.
The elections will take place across 21 constituencies which include three senatorial districts; eight federal constituencies; and 10 state constituencies.
The three senatorial districts are Rivers East Senatorial District; Rivers West and Rivers South-East.
The eight federal constituencies are Akuku-Toru/Asari Toru; Degema/Bonny; Okrika/Ogu-Bolo; Etche/Omuma; Ikwere/Emohua; Khana Gokana; Eleme/Tai/Oyigbo and Opobo/Nkoro/Andoni.
The bulletin said that state constituencies where election would also hold were Eleme, Gokana, Asari-Toru I, Asari-Toru II, Andoni, Khana II, Etche II, Ikwere, Bonny and Degema.
The elections were, however, disrupted by violence as a result of which they were suspended on March 19.
As at the time of the suspension of the elections the exercise was at different stages.
The elections had been concluded in some constituencies with the declaration of results and return of winners by the respective returning officers.
In some areas, collation had been concluded but no declaration or return made.
In yet some other areas, voting had been concluded and collation was on-going but yet to be concluded.
In some places, voting had been concluded but collation yet to commence, while in some other places, there was no voting among other challenges.
