Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi yesterday described Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State as too desperate for power. He also accused the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Obo Effanga, as unrepentantly a PDP member. Amaechi, who is also the leader of APC in Rivers State spoke after voting in his hometown of Ubima in Ikwerre Local Government Area.
He hailed the military, police and other security agencies for keeping the peace in Rivers.
Amaechi, a former Rivers governor, said: “The militants have fled, because of the presence of the military and we are voting peacefully. One thing about the soldiers is that they are apolitical. They are neither supporting APC nor AAC or PDP. What they are doing is to maintain peace and ensure that nobody disrupts the electoral process.
“Beyond the fact that the REC of INEC in Rivers State recruited PDP members as ad hoc staff, the process is a bit straight forward. For instance, in Khana LGA (of Rivers State), the people refused to vote, because all the ad hoc staff were known members of the PDP and the electorate said they would not vote.
“Wike does not like the fact that the military is maintaining peace. Whereas, he stays in Government House with his security and people are dying on the streets of Port Harcourt. Wike is so desperate about power. Just yesterday (Friday), PDP thugs killed two people in my mother’s village.
“The Rivers governor said there was voter apathy because of soldiers’ presence. There is no time we do not have voter apathy in Rivers State. What usually happened then was that PDP leaders would the write results and announce. Now, they do not have the opportunity to write results.”
The transportation minister also stated that it was noteworthy that the soldiers were now escorting the result sheets and other electoral materials to the collation centre, thereby thwarting Wike’s rigging plan.
However, Wike, after voting in his Rumueprikom-Port Harcourt polling unit in Obio/Akpor LGA, blamed the security agencies for the voters apathy during yesterday’s elections, stating that the voters were afraid to go to their polling units.
