•Defends Tinubu, says president approachable 

•Attacks Amaechi again, states his presidential bid dead on arrival

•Reveals Babachir livid with Tinubu because he wasn’t picked as VP 

•Feigns ignorance of planned PDP convention

Emmanuel AddehandOlawaleAjimotokan in Abuja

In spite of mounting opposition from stakeholders against the proposed local government elections in Rivers state scheduled for August 30, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and former Governor of the state, NyesomWike, yesterday said the election will go on as planned.

Speaking on  a national television yesterday, Wike argued that the so-called eminent persons from the state who do not want the election to hold do not mean well for Rivers state and should be ignored.

The planned Rivers state local government election has drawn opposition from a wide range of political leaders, party factions, and civil society groups, who have all questioned its legality and fairness.

A long list of prominent Rivers stakeholders, including AtedoPeterside; former governor Celestine Omehia; former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman UcheSecondus; former Minister, AbiyeSekibo; Senator Lee Maeba; DakukuPeterside; Senator Andrew Uchendu; Tele Ikuru; FafaaPrincewill and Tonye Cole, among others, recently petitioned President Bola Tinubu, describing the exercise as unconstitutional.

Among others, they pointed to breaches in procedure, particularly the failure of the state electoral body to give the mandatory 90-day notice.

But Wike stated that there was nothing eminent about the aforementioned persons, arguing that if they were important, they will support the election which has been fixed by the Military Administrator of the state, Vice Admiral Ibok-EteIbas (rtd), who many argue lack the constitutional authority to conduct democratic polls.

“Because I have money that’s what makes me eminent?  If anybody is eminent there, they should support that election. Because if you don’t, you are bringing the state backward. When you say unconstitutional, who interprets what is unconstitutional. Does it lie in their mouth to say something is unconstitutional?

“For Christ’s sake, you have the court that has been given the responsibility. Take up the challenge and go to court and say this is unconstitutional. And let the court be able to decide. How will our laws grow, it’s not by writing to the president saying it’s unconstitutional.

“What has ever happened that you have said it’s unconstitutional. Have they read the emergency powers of the president?. Did you know the supreme court said there is no government in the state?

“The supreme court sacked all the local governments and said no caretaker. That you can’t have money for all the local governments. The state  government has no budget. How would you run the state government at that time if the president did not take the powers that he took.

“The state would have been something else. Now, as part of restoring democracy at the local government level, we say look, you have to conduct the local government election,” Wike stated.

The FCT minister vowed to campaign for his candidates from next week, noting that the local government election will go on as scheduled.

“I’m going for campaign next week. I will. I’m going to campaign for my local government. I believe we have done quite a lot and the PDP will win in my local government,” he pointed out.

Besides, the minister dismissed insinuations that President Bola Tinubu was unapproachable,  stressing that the president cannot personally attend to everyone. He maintained that governance involves teamwork and that Nigerians should engage ministers and presidential advisers rather than expect direct access to the President.

“When you say Mr President is unapproachable, and the government is unapproachable, what do you call a government? Must everybody reach Mr President? Is that the way the government runs?

“If everybody in this country refuses to reach out to ministers or special advisers and just wants to see Mr President, how many people can he attend to at a time? I am a minister, if you have a problem regarding the activities in the FCT, have you tried to reach out to the FCT minister?” he queried.

He was responding to recent comments by a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), BabachirLawal, who had described Tinubu and his administration as inaccessible.

Wike also claimed that Lawal turned against  Tinubu after he was allegedly overlooked for the position of vice president in 2023.

He said: “When Mr President chose his vice-presidential candidate, I was one of those BabachirLawal visited. He came to my house in Port Harcourt. What was his anger? His anger was that he thought Mr President would have chosen him as the vice presidential candidate. Having not done that, he let loose.”

Wike described Lawal’s criticisms of the president as disrespectful,  advising that if Lawal had issues with Tinubu, there was “nothing wrong” in addressing them directly with the president.

Besides, Wike attacked his predecessor in office, ex-Governor RotimiAmaechi, maintaining the presidential ambition of the former Transportation Minister was dead on arrival and dismissing Amaechi’s claims that he will end corruption in one month.

Amaechi, who is now a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) opposition coalition, had said the party was determined to wrest power from Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 poll.

Wike added: “He (Amaechi) knows he won’t get the ticket. I read that he said he knows the weaknesses of the president, so he knows how to defeat him, but he also knew the weaknesses of the president in 2022 when the president defeated him mercilessly in the primary.

 “Nigerians know the last person they will give a ticket to because they know it (Amaechi’s bid) is dead on arrival.”

In the same vein, Wike faulted Amaechi’s ability to fight corruption and enthrone good governance, saying he had no respect for the judiciary and the rule of law when he was Rivers state governor.

 “He was a governor for Rivers State and what can be more corruption when you don’t want an arm of government to exist. Can there be good governance without obeying the rule of law?

 “A man who was a governor refused the judiciary to operate. A man who was a governor sealed off the state high court for almost two years. The man who wants to say he will stop corruption was a man who refused the judiciary to exist, and stopped the high court for nearly two years. People had cases in court.

 “People have their businesses in court to settle. The court was shut down. Almost two years. You should obey the recommendations of the National Judicial Council. The Judicial Service Commission made a recommendation to the National Judicial Council for appointment of who would be the substantive chief judge. And it is the incumbent of the National Judicial Council to recommend based on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission.

 “The governor refused saying that he would not obey the National Judicial Council which is the apex body that recommends appointment of judges and chief judges in the case. Can such a man really be the one that can fight corruption in one month,?” Wike asked.

Wike also feigned ignorance of the forthcoming PDP convention scheduled for Ibadan in November, saying that as a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party, nobody had told about the convention.

 “No, there is no decision on the PDP Convention. I am not aware that there is any convention in Ibadan. We are meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) and we are going to challenge it. As a NEC member I have not been told and nobody has invited me for a NEC meeting to say that NEC has held a meeting,” Wike said.

The post Wike Backs August 30 Rivers Local Government Elections appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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