Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, has stated that he does not support the politics of violence because he upholds the rule of law. The governor argued that his administration cannot use political violence even in the face of political provocations, baseless accusations, and flagrant disdain for the law on the part of rowdy political actors.
At the 17.2 kilometer-long Bori-Kono Road’s inauguration ceremony on Friday at the Methodist Comprehensive High School Premises in the Baen village of Khana Local Government Area, Governor Wike made the statement.
The governor claimed that his administration has done an excellent job for the people of Rivers in terms of project delivery, providing security, and promoting good governance, earning the support of the Rivers electorate on the political front.
Governor Nyesom Wike emphasized that there is no need to resort to political violence against anyone because the Rivers people are already at home listening to his political advice on who to vote for in the 2023 election.
The governor pointed out that by willfully breaking a State legislation that forbids the placement of political offices in residential areas of the State, Senator Lee Maeba and Dr. Abiye Sekibo have been attempting to incite violence in the State.
Governor Nyesom Wike spoke further insisting that, “But we say, no, let’s take a step further. We went to court to say, look, this is in violation of the provisions of the law. It is the count that has placed the seal-off.
“If we are violent, since you want to try to see whether we are violent or not, we would have shown it. But you’ve been defeated. We have always followed due process and we cannot be violent.”
The governor emphasized that no one was bothering anyone or interfering with their political campaigns, but that such actions needed to be taken in accordance with State statutes.
Governor Nyesom Wike noted that the Executive Order 10 that President Muhammadu Buhari signed had been contested in court and overturned at the Supreme Court of Nigeria by his administration and other State governors.
Governor Nyesom Wike stated that the State is already in court about the collection and remittance of VAT as well as a separate, non-violent federal fund collection for one of its agencies.
The governor suggested that lawmakers examine the legality of the Executive Orders 21 and 22 in court before daring to flout them.
Without the full force of the law, no one will dare disobey, according to governor Wike, under the current system.
Additionally, Governor Wike took some time to deny the senator Lee Maeba’s accusations of an attempted assassination on him.
