DAKUKU PETERSIDE'S APPEARANCE ON AIT: A CONFIRMATION OF APC'S LOSS OF APRIL 11 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

The statements made by the defeated Rivers State APC Governorship Candidate, Mr Dakuku Peterside on AIT's Focus Nigeria on Wednesday, April 23, 2015 confirm the fact that the APC hold the people of the state in disdain and expected to use violence to win the April 11 governorship election in a state where the party had been rejected.

All through the interview session, Mr Peterside struggled unsuccessfully to justify the acts of violence perpetrated by the outgoing governor and his political godfather, Mr Rotimi Amaechi who traversed the state with armed thugs and compromised security agents destroying sensitive election materials and disrupted elections in Wards 12 and 13 of Obio/Akpor LGA which were held on April 12. He was unhappy that the people of Rivers State refused to be cowed by the violence unleashed by his godfather and his APC sponsored thugs across the state.

It was also the outgoing governor who stormed Akuku Toru LGA with several imported APC thugs with the aim of disrupting the governorship elections in the area, but was resisted by the youths before the security agents arrested the situation. Outgoing Governor Rotimi Amaechi and APC leaders disobeyed all electoral laws on April 11, but Rivers people remained focused and cast their votes in favour of the PDP.

It is important to reiterate that aside the outgoing governor, several APC leaders across Rivers State were either arrested or declared wanted for their acts of violence in some localities on the day of the Governorship Election. One of such APC leaders is Mr Tony Okocha, the immediate past chief of staff to Governor Amaechi who was declared wanted after he personally led thugs to perpetrate violence in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor LGAs.

Mr Dakuku Peterside also used the interview session to heap insult on the people of Rivers State and the South-South geo-political zone. He berated the people of the South-South on National Television for voting for the PDP, when the other regions voted the APC. He used unprintable names and analogy to qualify the people of Rivers State and their South-South kinsmen. This is unfortunate and regrettable.

Heaping insults on the people of Rivers State for voting for Barrister Wike and the PDP will not alter the situation. Using the enormous financial muscle at the disposal of the Rivers APC to promote falsehood about the governorship election in Rivers State will not change the fact that the people of Rivers State are done with the political arrogance and failure that Dakuku Peterside and his godfather represent.

Dakuku Peterside should continue his paid media appearances in Lagos and Abuja whilst sponsoring hundreds of civil society and media practitioners to drum up falsehood about the Rivers State Governorship Election. We assure him that they will all fail. Dakuku Peterside should recall that the Rivers APC and his political godfather carried out similar sponsored falsehood before the general elections which failed woefully despite the negative image it created for our beloved state.

The Rivers State Governor-Elect, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (CON) is focused on the redemption and development of Rivers State. He will, therefore, not be distracted by the media war and falsehood unleashed on the peoples mandate by a defeated governorship candidate in the face of development challenges across Rivers State occasioned by the failure of the APC to deliver on good governance.

***Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant (Media) to Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike (CON), Rivers State Governor-Elect.