In a few weeks time, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will lift the ban on campaigns for the 2023 general election.
In Rivers, there are no fewer than 16 governorship candidates contesting on the platform of different political parties. The scenario this time around is different from that of 2019 when the Judiciary ordered INEC to remove the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the ballot, leaving the battleground for only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and few other smaller political parties.
Some of the governorship candidates aspiring to succeed Governor Nyesom Wike on May 29, 2023, include Tonye Cole of the APC, Sim Fubara of the PDP, Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Sobomabo Jackrich of the National Rescue Movement (NRM) and Beatrice Itubo of the Labour Party (LP).
Others are Dumo Lulu-Briggs of Accord Party, Gborogbosi Leesi of the Action Peoples Party (APP), Ibraye Tonte of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Somiari Victor of Action Alliance (AA) and Faye-Ofori Churchill of Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Also on the list are Joseph Obele of the African Action Congress (AAC), Sam Agwor of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Sophia Cookey of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Victor Fingesi of African Democratic Party (ADP) and Danagogo Wenike-Briggs of Young Progressives Party (YPP).
Apparently in order to avoid INEC’s hammer since the ban on political campaigns were yet to be lifted, most political parties and their governorship candidates devised a means of getting in touch with the electorate through permanent voter’s cards (PVCs) sensitisation across the 23 local government areas of the state.
The PDP and its candidate, Fubara, have used the Grassroot Development Initiative (GDI), a political pressure group within the party to reach all nooks and cranny of the state.
Also, the APC and its candidate, Cole have continued to get in touch with the electorate through Team Cole and the newly inaugurated pro-APC pressure group, the Rivers First Initiative (RFI) while SDP’s Abe and Accord Party’s Lulu-Briggs are using the ‘Project SMA 2023’ and the ‘We Agenda’, to reach out to Rivers people.
However, not much has been heard about other political parties and their governorship candidates in terms of reaching out to the grassroots in the state, ahead of the formal kick-off of political campaigns.
Also, apart from the PDP and APC that have party offices in almost all the 319 wards in the state, most of the political parties have no visible presence in most of the 23 local government areas in the state.
On its part, the leadership of PDP in the state, has, in separate suits, dragged most of the formidable political parties as well as INEC to Court, seeking the disqualifications of all their candidates.
Some of the parties already defending themselves before the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, include the APC and the Accord Party.
Unlike in the last general election in 2019 when all the political gladiators were dagger-drawn against each other, leaders of political parties in the state, have been relating with each other despite political differences.
For instance, the 60th birthday anniversary thanksgiving service of an APC chieftain in the state, Kingsley Wenenda Wali on August 7, 2022, brought together leaders of different political parties in the state.
Prominent among them were Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, the immediate-past minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, Cole, Abe and several others, all seated on the front row of Saint Michael’s Anglican Church, Rumualogu, venue of the thanksgiving service.
Despite the seeming peaceful atmosphere in the state ahead of the general elections, Wike believes that some political leaders in the state are hatching a plot to cause disorder in the state.
In a state-wide broadcast on Sunday night, the governor said the state has obtained intelligence reports that some misguided politicians have started recruiting cultists, ex-convicts and thugs in furtherance of their political aspirations for 2023.
Wike also said the state government was aware that owners of hotels and entertainment centres are in the process of giving out their premises to politicians and political parties as a convenient base for the gathering of these political thugs across the state.
He emphasised that the state government was not taking intelligence reports at its disposal lightly, and will therefore not allow any politician, no matter his previous or present position, the chance or opportunity to upset the prevailing peace and security in Rivers State.
The governor said:”Similarly, we will not allow any political party, be it the All Progressives Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party or the Social Democratic Party to threaten the safety and security of lives and property during the campaigns with mayhem, thuggery or violence.
“We also wish to warn owners of hotels and proprietors of relaxation centres to take notice and desist from releasing their facilities for politicians and party leaders to use to meet and plot against the peace, safety and security of our State.”
He warned that the state government will pull down hotels and other entertainment places that are linked with such criminal political activities.
Wike said: “We urge residents to be vigilant while going about with their normal activities and promptly report any suspicious gatherings or movements in your vicinity to the attention of the security agencies for necessary action,” he said.
But the leadership of APC in the state said it was not surprised that Wike has become so panicky as the 2023 general election approaches.
A statement issued in Port Harcourt by the party’s spokesman, Senibo Chris Finebone, reads in part: “The APC is not surprised because it is a notorious fact already known to many politicians and observers that Governor Wike was thrown into his present panic mode ever since he failed in his desperate attempt to secure the Presidential and later Vice Presidential tickets of his party in order to cover up financial and other atrocities he committed over the past 10 years as Minister of Education and presently governor of Rivers State for two terms ending May 29, 2023.
“Lately, his predicament has not been helped by the inconclusive outcome of his offer to work for the Presidential Candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, in exchange for a safe landing and protection after the 2023 general election having been convinced that Tinubu will defeat Atiku Abubakar of his party, the PDP.
“As Wike presses on with courting the APC to secure protection after the 2023 general elections, a close ally of the APC Presidential Candidate, Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos and other APC stalwarts will be in Rivers State this week to either commission projects undertaken by Gov. Wike or flag off others.
“However, it did not take long for any discerning mind to know that the 19-paragraph broadcast by Gov. Wike is only a knee jerk reaction by the governor to fight back his fear for his own shadow.”
APC added that this is not the first time the governor has resorted to crude and primitive methods to intimidate and subdue his political opponents if his threat to demolish hotels and leisure places where politicians hold their meetings is anything to go by, having done so during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The APC is not surprised at the threat by Governor Wike. His house (PDP) is crumbling fast right in his face. For obvious reasons, his main men of yesterday have turned political foes today. His entourage has seen faces change over and over again of late.
“We know his threat is essentially directed at his henchmen who have taken their destinies in their own hands and rebelling against the local potentate. Across the State these men have pitched their tent with Wike’s tormentor-in-chief, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
As it stands, all eyes are on the political actors in the state ahead of the polls.
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