Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has accused security agencies and the All Progressives Congress (APC), of creating the fertile ground for violence whenever his State heads to the ballot.
In recent rerun legislative elections in Rivers, two police personnel were reportedly beheaded amid sporadic gunshots and machete inflicted wounds.
There were also reports of hired thugs making away with ballot boxes.
Rivers State has since carved a reputation for violence and it is common these days to see the Dailies scream with captions like: “Rivers of Blood”.
In a chat with Pulse on Saturday, Wike deflected accusations that he’s the aggressor whenever elections are held in a State in which he’s the chief security officer.
The Governor who belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been locked in a supremacy battle with former Governor and current Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi.
There’s been no love lost between both key political actors, for as long as anyone can remember.
“Tell INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission), tell the Nigerian police, tell the Nigerian security that I want free and fair elections.
“What causes violence? I was here and they wanted to stop the results of my senatorial district from being declared..to manipulate it? If in the course of resisting rigging, they shoot somebody, will there not be violence?
“Why will you carry materials and give to the other party to the detriment of the other party? Why? We said, allow everybody to vote. Now, you use security agencies to hijack the materials, to beat up our agents…Why can’t they tell you the simple truth? If they conduct free and fair elections in this State today, who will win? Who is going to lose if there’s violence?
“We want elections. Let’s see who is more popular. You (APC) don’t want election. You want to bring collation officers that will do your own bidding. You want to bring INEC officers to do your own bidding. We have no problem, bring whoever you want to bring, but let there be elections. When you win, you won’t blame the person that collated. What kind of system is this?
“The only condition for peace in Rivers is free and fair elections like it’s done all over the world”.
Wike also said that his voice in that audio making the rounds on social media; and which was first put up by online news platform Sahara Reporters, was a complete fabrication.
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