Governorship candidates of some political parties in Rivers State on Friday stormed the state police headquarters, protesting alleged intimidation by Governor Nyesom Wike ahead of Saturday’s election.
The candidates are Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party, Tonye Cole, All Progressives Congress; Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs, Accord; and Tonte Ibraye of the African Democratic Congress.
Speaking, Abe faulted Governor Wike’s directive to security agencies to arrested and prosecute some politicians in the state on grounds of plotting to disrupt elections, saying he had no power to do so.
He stated, “Most of those people named in that broadcast by the governor are simply those who have been campaigning for other political parties.
“A lot of them are members of the SDP, including a Nigerian citizen who just flew into this country just to come and participate in this election and cast his vote as a citizen of this country.
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“Because he put up billboards for the SDP and mobilised voters to come out for the SDP, his name has been included as somebody who is to be apprehended and arrested. It is actually the responsibility of the Nigerian Police to declare anybody wanted.”
On his part, APC’s Cole said the protest was a multi-party decision, saying opposition parties had been victimised, intimidated and their members being arrested.
The Accord candidate, Lulu-Briggs said the alarm being raised was not just by the candidates, saying the electorate in the state was also worried.
He stated, “We want to ask the police to make sure that people have confidence in the system.”
Reacting, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Chris Finebone, debunked the allegations, saying the governor and the ruling PDP in the state would never indulge in such despicable act.
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