Rivers Govt Seals Off Atiku’s Campaign Office

The Rivers State government, on Friday, sealed off the state office of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council in Port Harcourt, the State capital.

The office is located along Onne Road in the New Government Reservation Area (GRA), Port Harcourt.

A statement by Rivers State PDP Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), said, the action was based on the orders of the State Government.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike had recently signed Executive Order 22 which prohibits the citing of campaign offices by political parties in residential areas without government approval.

But the media team of the PDP PCC, Rivers State, said it had applied for approval from the State Government but has not received any feedback for several weeks.

The PCC described the seal on the office as anti-democratic and a violation of free expression. 

“The public is hereby informed that the sealed premises had no bill board or poster, since the approval had not been given, yet it was sealed off, a sign that the delay in the approval is premeditated and computed to cause this sort of unlawfulness.  

“We condemn this act because it rubs off on our fundamental right to free expression of interest. Furthermore, this egregious move by the Rivers State Government, seen in the prism of politics, tends to militarise our democracy and renders our dear state politically recessive when juxtaposed with other states in the country. 

“We urge our dear leaders in the state to challenge this illegality in a court of competent jurisdiction so that friction can disappear from our political space.

“The right to campaign for preferred candidate is enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria, which is the grand norm from which every other law derives its power. 

“Thus, every clash between the Constitution and any other made law should be resolved in favour of the Constitution. The Rivers State Government, we dare say, is subject to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as Amended).

“It is our duty to remind Gov. Wike and his co-travelers that they, like everyone else, are subject to the Laws of Nigeria.  

“Meanwhile we charge the Rivers State PDP PCC, our dear leaders, to see to it that this unlawful disruption of campaign activities does not rattle their cage. They must continue to function as they always had prior to the existence of the Secretariat.

“Tyranny will expire in our state. If the Nazi Regime could die in Germany, then this facsimile of such will die even much faster to the glory of God and liberty of Rivers State”, it added

Meanwhile, Kelvin Ebiri, Wike’s spokesperson, said, a state executive order in place prohibits the location of campaign offices in residential areas.

“The Rivers state government approached a court which ordered that the place should be sealed up.

“The Rivers state executive order 22 prohibits the location of a political campaign office in a residential area. It was the court that ordered the place to be sealed up”, he said.

Friday’s development is the latest in a cycle of controversies involving Abubakar and Wike, a governor elected on the platform of the party.

There has been crisis in the PDP amid calls for the removal of Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP national chairman.

Although he is still a member of the PDP, the governor has, in recent months, been seen in the company of candidates from other parties.

In October, he alleged that Abubakar constituted the PDP presidential campaign council in Rivers “without a whole (sic) governor of a state having a contribution”.

Speaking on Thursday at the inauguration of a flyover in Obi-Akpor LGA, Wike said he will announce his preferred presidential candidate in January and mobilise people “from state to state” for the candidate.

“From January next year, I will campaign to my people who they will vote for. So, all of you who have been suspects and have been saying all kinds of things and abusing me, wait. January has come”, he said.

Wike had on Wednesday, warned politicians against flouting the executive order in the state.

-diplomatic diary