On Tuesday a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Chukwuemeka Eze has blasted Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike over the recently concluded local government council election held across the State.
In a release made available to newsmen, Eze, an erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), described the exercise as a sham and of no significance in deepening democracy in the state.
Eze lamented that the elections marred by novel voter apathy has been widely attributed to the boycott of the predetermined process by the Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress.
The Party Chieftain hailed the people of Rivers for their bold resolve to boycott the just concluded local government elections purportedly conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and superintended over by the Wike-led PDP administration.
Eze posited that the election was a good proof that Wike and his allies have got no relevance in the politics of Rivers State, adding that the exercise will remain significant in the history of council elections in the state for its peculiarity in subduing every known ingredient that constitute the recognized standard for an election in a democracy.
Eze slammed the State government for restricting human and vehicular movements for a council election which he claimed, the outcome had already been schemed, describing it as pure economic waste.
He noted that the billions of naira that had been lost to the stoppage of businesses would have made significant impacts on the economies of households and the state in general especially, given the harsh realities that stares the world in the face.
“Again, the statement credited to the selected Chairman of Port Harcourt City Council, Mr. Alwell Ihunda, was a display of cowardice and clear confirmation that the selected council chairmen have a single mandate in common; to serve Governor Wike, and nothing more, I aver that what happened in Rivers State on Saturday was a gross antithesis of a representative democracy.
“True democracy and electoral process are judged by the number of voters that turns out for an election but where in a State that prides itself of churning out two million votes in past elections and only less than 100,000 came out to vote, it simply demonstrates that 90% of voters refused to participate in the exercise. The aggregate results of such an election which represents less than 10% cannot be said to be a true reflection of the will of the people”.
Eze, however, urged the people of Rivers State to queue behind the All Progressives Congress (APC) in order to collectively rescue the State from its present sad situation.
Recall that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission RSIEC had conducted election in the 23 local government areas of the state during the weekend.
