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The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State and a senior legal practitioner, Dr. Chukwuma Chinwo, have faulted Governor Nyesom Wike on the ban on use of public schools in the state for political campaigns without permission from the Ministry of Education.
Wike had in a broadcast on Friday announced that he had signed Executive Order 21 directing political parties to pay N5 million to the state government for security before getting approval to use public schools for political campaigns.
While the APC said the order 21 contravened Section 91 of the 2022 Electoral Act, Chinwo held that the governor benefitted from the process during his campaigns ahead of the 2015 and 2019 governorship elections.
The APC in statement signed by its acting publicity secretary, Darlington Nwauju, said: “We wish to draw the attention of the public to Section 91 of the 2022 Electoral Act, which resonates with Section 40 of the Constitution. And in layman’s language:
“No political party in Nigeria can be prevented from holding rallies, processions or meetings. It is also the duty of the commissioner of police in each state to provide adequate security cover for such rallies or meetings and also in a consultative manner resolve any conflict of time and venue amongst the political parties.
“No state government can amend any section of the Electoral Act by issuing decrees that are strange to the Act. The INEC chairman recently warned state governments against using the power of incumbency to intimidate opponents.
“Will the PDP in Rivers State pay the cautionary fee of N5 million and write applications two weeks ahead of time before it uses any public school for rallies?
“We suspect that there is a grand plot to deploy all sorts of underhand tactics to intimidate political opponents in the state; narrow the political space, shush every voice of reason and turn all known democratic ethos upside down.
Chinwo, who spoke on a live radio programme monitored in Port Harcourt, said the order is a wrong policy.
The governor had said applicants would deposit the amount as caution fee in case attendees destroy facilities in the schools during campaigns, adding that a local council chairman has the right to stop any rally if approval is not sought.