The Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) in Rivers State, has described the destruction of its billboard at the Port Harcourt International Airport, as an attempt by political opponents to frustrate the growth of opposition parties in the state.
Spokesman of the party in the state, Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo, said the criminal act is an early indication of the modus operandi of entrenched anti-democratic forces in Rivers State ahead of the 2027 election campaigns.
Ijuye-Dagogo stated that the incident reinforces the widespread belief that the politicians promising President Tinubu a landslide victory in Rivers State have only one pathway to achieving their goal.
He said: “We woke up yesterday to be notified that the NDC billboard at the Port Harcourt International Airport was destroyed. This is a very bad development ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
“This is the height of criminality; it is an early warning. Their mode of operation is violence, intimidation and outright rigging.
Ijuye-Dagogo, who called on security agencies to intervene and protect political parties and their supporters from intimidation, also warned against attempts to create unrest in Rivers State in the name of delivering President Bola Tinubu.
“Let it be clear, the NDC understands the political environment of Rivers State and cannot be intimidated. We will continue to engage the people of Rivers State and pursue our political objectives. No act of destruction can extinguish the people’s right to freely elect their political leaders,” he said.
In a separate complain, the governorship candidate of Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA), Warigbani Ezekiel, has called on the Police to investigate the destruction of his campaign posters in Port Harcourt.
Ezekiel told newsmen in Port Harcourt that suspected political thugs attacked the party’s office and destroyed posters bearing his campaign message.
Rivers people are not in anybody’s pocket. So, today, they are angry; they want to scare us, they want us to be afraid. I am not afraid and Rivers people are not afraid. If you are so sure that Rivers people love you, why are you destroying billboards? Why are you sending thugs at 2:00am? Come and campaign with ideas. Tell Rivers people what you have done for them. Let the people decide with their votes not with cutlasses.
Reacting to the allegation, spokesman of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Rivers State, Emmanuel Obe, urged security agencies to act quickly to prevent further political intimidation as the 2027 election approaches.
Obe stated that intimidation has no place in a democracy and urged the police to ensure that citizens and political parties can campaign freely.
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