Politics

Wike eager, won’t tolerate any delay in rerun

Published

8 years ago

July 24, 2016

Rivers state governor has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC’s) office fire incident should not be reason to cancel rerun election in the affected local government.

This is as he promised to provide an alternative office for INEC for the conduct of July 30 rerun election, saying that “will make sure that this does not dampen the spirit of INEC. I have directed the caretaker committee chairman of the local government area to immediately rebuild the burnt office.”

Wike stated this on Saturday when he inspected the burnt office. He charged security agencies to fish out the culprits.

INEC office in Bori Khana Local Government Area was burnt on Friday, in a fire incident suspected not to be unconnected with coming re-run election in the state.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), in a statement by its state chairman, Dr Davies Ikanya, had accused the governor saying, “Nyesom Wike was publicly threatening INEC, its chairman, me and Senator Magnus Abe and in less than 24 hours, the INEC office in Senator Abe’s South-East Senatorial Headquarters (Bori) was burnt down. There’s no need looking elsewhere, Nyesom Wike has, as usual, carried out his earlier threat to visit us with fire; we now know better what he meant.”

But Wike, during his visit to the place, advised politicians not to see elections as a do-or-die affair, advising them to allow the electorate decide who they want to be their leader.

He then asked INEC to go ahead with the elections as scheduled, saying that the fire must have been the work of mischief politicians seeking the postponement of the rerun election. He wondered what will make some politicians to be afraid of the rerun poll.

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