Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has declared that his administration
would support the conduct of free and fair legislative re-run elections
by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state.
The governor, however, stated that the people of the state would resist
any attempt to rig the forth-coming re-run elections with the aim of
subverting their will.
Wike spoke yesterday at the Government House, Port Harcourt when he
granted audience to the new Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in
Rivers State, Elder Ikoiwak Aniedi.
The governor said: "You must have heard me say, which some people have
taken out of context. I want to repeat what I said. We will support
anybody that comes to conduct free and fair elections. If anybody has at
the back of his mind that he is coming to do the bidding of a
particular political party or interest group or that he is coming to the
state to impose candidates on the state or rig election, the people
will resist. Of course, you know what that means.
"You have said it here that it is the duty of the people to elect their
representatives. It is not the duty of INEC and it is not the duty of
security agents to impose candidates on our State. Your duty is to
conduct free and fair elections and we want to believe that INEC will
conduct free and fair elections ".
Speaking further, Governor Wike said: "The ruling party at the Federal
level has boasted severally how they will use INEC and security agencies
to manipulate the re-run elections. Don't allow any security agency to
teleguide you because we have told our people that everybody should be
firm, everybody should be ready. We will not take any chances, we will
follow materials bumper to bumper. We will make sure we have agents in
all areas".
The governor urged INEC to ensure that the forth-coming re-run elections in the state were conclusive.
Wike called on the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner to seek the
opinion of the commission’s legal department on the legal
implications of the re-run elections which would hold on 19th March,
2016, long after the three months stipulated in the Electoral Act and
the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
He said that the new Resident Electoral Commissioner was a man who
understood the terrain of the state and had the capacity to conduct free
and fair elections.
Earlier, the Rivers State INEC Electoral Commissioner, Elder Aniedi,
said he paid the courtesy call to inform Wike that re-run elections
would hold in the state on 19th March for three Senatorial Districts, 12
Federal Constituencies and 22 State Constituencies.
Elder Aniedi applied for the governor’s approval for INEC to use state
schools for the elections from March 18 to March 20, 2016.
He assured the people of the state that INEC would conduct free and
fair elections in line with the law. He added that the commission would
work with security agencies to ensure peaceful polls.
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