Wike: Why I shut Atiku’s campaign office in Rivers

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, says the closure of the campaign office of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, was due to the violation of the Executive Order he signed in the state.

Wike had a few weeks ago signed Executive Order 22 which restricted political parties and their candidates from siting political campaign offices in residential areas without government approval.

The Star had reported that Atiku’s campaign office, located in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, was sealed off in the early hours of Friday.

The Rivers State PDP Presidential Campaign Council had said the closure was based on the orders of the Rivers State Government but did not give a further explanation on the action.

However, Governor Wike, while speaking at the inauguration of the 17.2 kilometres Bori-Kono Road in Baen, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State on Friday, said his estranged political associates and members of PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Lee Maeba and Dr. Abiye Sekibo, have been trying to instigate violence in the state by deliberately violating a state law that prohibits the location of political offices in residential areas of the state.

“Few days ago, you (Maeba) and Abiye went to Igboukwu Street, D-Line (Port Harcourt) without the approval of government to site a political office.

“We are talking about Executive Orders 21 and 22 that have now been taken over by the law passed by the State House of Assembly. We did not send the chairman of Port Harcourt council to go and bring it (the building) down. We have the powers.

“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 stated.

He stressed that nobody was harassing anybody and preventing them from their political campaigns but such must be done in line with statutory laws of the state.

Governor Wike stated that his administration and other state governors challenged Executive Order 10 that President Muhammadu Buhari signed in court and won at the Supreme Court.

He added that the people of Rivers State were already at home to listen to his political counsel on who to vote for in the 2023 general election, saying there is no need to recourse to political violence against any politician in the state.

The Star

Segun Ojo