Ahead of Saturday’s governorship election, the Rivers State Elder and Leaders Council has appealed to the people of the state to vote for a riverine candidate to justify the existing rotation of the position of the governor in the state.The council also reasoned that it was necessary for the people of the state to vote en masse for the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, in order to avoid being the opposition to the government at the centre.
Chairman of the council, Chief Albert Horsfall, who made this call in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, explained that it had been a tradition in the state to allocate principal offices of the state authority to persons from the same ethnic area.
He pointed out that it would be unfair for a governor from Ikwerre extraction in the person of Mr. Rotimi Amaechi to hand over the mantle of leadership to another person from Ikwerre ethnic nationality.
The security expert urged the youths of the state to shun any act of violence and lawlessness, adding that Rivers need to make friends and negotiate from its position of strength and natural wealth.
“Has it or has it not been the tradition in this State that we do not allocate the principal offices of the State Authority, e.g. Governor, Federal Minister, Chief Judge to persons from the same ethnic community?
“That is what would likely happen if you vote in another Ikwerre as governor of the state. We must not goad or encourage our youths to project or be involved in more acts of lawlessness, violence or defiance.
“Dear Rivers People, can we, once again, remain in opposition to the Federal Government and see our people continuously deprived in a land where we have made so much contribution and sacrifice? That’s what we get when we vote a PDP candidate for governor! So think again, my dear Rivers people.
Horsfall, however, pleaded with the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to appoint Amaechi into a position that would benefit the state, adding that largesse from the Federal Government had eluded Rivers for the past six years.
