STATE BROADCAST ON NATIONAL AND STATE ASSEMBLIES’ RE-RUN ELECTIONS.

STATE BROADCAST ON NATIONAL AND STATE ASSEMBLIES’
RE-RUN ELECTIONS.

STATE BROADCAST BY HIS EXCELLENCY, NYESOM EZENWO
WIKE, CON, TO THANK THE PEOPLE OF RIVERS STATE ON
THE DECEMBER 10 2016 NATIONAL AND STATE
ASSEMBLIES’ RE-RUN ELECTIONS.
My dear people of Rivers State
We wish to most sincerely thank you all for your enthusiasm
and participation in the just concluded re-run legislative
elections in the State despite the many troubles you had to go
through before and during the elections.
2. We appreciate you all for your courage and determined
effort to defend your votes and ensure that you exercise your
democratic rights to freely elect your representatives at the
National and State Assemblies in the face of the malicious
intimidation and obvious threat to your personal security.
3. We know that most of you are clearly unhappy with the
manner the election process was brazenly maneuvered with
federal might to undeservedly return some candidates at all
cost, but we still have to thank God Almighty and give Him the
glory for the outcome, because it could have been far worse.
4. They ignored us when we drew their attention to the
persistent abuse of public office by Mr. Stephen Hasso, the
Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of operations and
CSP Akin Fakorede, the Commander, Special Anti-Robbery
Squad (SARS), and the threat they posed to the peaceful
conduct of the re-run elections.
5. They accused us of raising unnecessary alarms when we
cried aloud over their devilish plans to use the federally-contr
olled SARS to disenfranchise our people and manipulate the
re-run election process towards achieving some pre-arranged
outcomes against the will of the people.
6. Today, we have clearly and eloquently been vindicated.
Despite the unprecedented deployment of over 28,000 police
personnel, three helicopters and 20 gun boats for the re-run
elections, we all witnessed how Stephen Hasso, Akin Fakorede
and their gang of marauders took direct and complete control
of the election process from INEC in the Rivers South-East
Senatorial District, as well as in Ikwerre, Emouha and Port
Harcourt Local Government Areas, and left unimaginable trails
of mayhem, shootings, maiming and killing of innocent people.
7. Indeed, never in our history have Rivers people been so
physically, mentally and psychologically brutalized,
traumatized and denied their rights to freely and fairly elect
our leaders by shameless gangs of hired, power-drunk, trigger-
happy and irresponsible security officers and their political
collaborators.
8. Unfortunately, the brazen subversion of our democratic
rights that took place on the 10th of December 2016, was
carefully planned and orchestrated by some highly-placed and
desperate politicians from the State in concert with the
Governors of Bauchi, Benue, Kano and Plateau States, who
reportedly bankrolled the plan with the sum of one billion naira
each, at a time they cannot pay salaries of civil servants, let
alone embark on development projects in their States.
9. If Rivers people could be visited with such a despicably high
degree of violence, mayhem and killings by some renegade
military and SARS operatives with impunity just to rescue the
dying political fortunes of the All Peoples Congress in a mere
legislative re-run elections, then we can now begin to imagine
what is likely to happen in the State when the political stakes
would be very much higher in 2019.
10. Nigeria often prides itself as a beacon of democracy and
quickly congratulates other African countries for successful
democratic elections and political transitions. Yet, the painful
irony is that we are still unable to guarantee the minimum
rights of our citizens to free, fair and credible electoral
processes at home. What a shame!!
11. We most sincerely sympathize with the families of all
those that were deliberately and coldly murdered by the SARS
operatives during the ill-fated re-run elections in the State and
pray for the peaceful repose of their innocent souls.
12. Information available to us indicate that CSP Mr. Akin
Fakorede, who was caught on camera physically brutalizing a
female electoral officer is currently being debriefed by the
police high command in Abuja. However, we do not have
confidence in what they are doing neither do we expect that
the victims of Mr. Akin’s brutality will ever get justice from the
police authorities given the levity with which they treated and
bungled the case against those that were arrested in Port
Harcourt while printing results sheets with which to rig the re-
run elections.
13. Once again, we thank you all for your unflinching support
and love, and most especially, our revered religious leaders,
for your sacrifice, fasting and continuous prayers, which were
unquestionably responsible for the prevailing peace, security
and progress in the State.
14. We wish to assure you of our continued reverence and
readiness to partner with the Church and the people of God to
defend our God-given rights and freedoms and move the State
forward at any cost.
15. Thank you so very much and may God continue to bless
our dear Rivers State.