*Rivers PDP rejects reports as slanted, mischievous
Ibrahim Bakare/Port Harcourt
The European Union Election Observation Mission on the 2023 general elections has slammed former Governor Nyesom Wike for constraining electioneering campaign environment in Rivers State.
The report said former governor Nyesom Wike imposed campaign rules that were more restrictive than INEC regulations.
The EU report on the general elections, which the presidency has already rejected, said EU election observers recorded denials of access to opposition candidates to state-owned stadiums and school premises, selectively imposed excessive venue fees, and closed party offices, to prevent the opposition from campaigning.
The report said the same constrained campaign environment was also observed in Lagos, Katsina, Kaduna, Delta, Edo, Ogun, and Kogi states.
However, in a swift reaction the Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has said that it does not accept the “Mischievous Report On The Just Concluded Elections, and the slanted comment on former Governor Wike
Ogbonna Nwuke, the former Spokesman of Rivers PDP Campaign Council said the report by members of the EU monitoring team in respect of the last general elections in the country has become the subject of some controversy in Nigeria and the Nigerian Government has in very strong terms condemned the content of the report, describing it as abhorable, distasteful and fictional presentation that is totally unacceptable.
He also said it is noteworthy INEC has similarly reacted, providing details of efforts made to set up a transparent and open system that is consistent with the age-long desire of all Nigerians for free and fair elections that are credible.
Nwuke pointed out that under this dispensation, parties in opposition have gained significant grounds in terms of representation than any time in history. We may not have been wholly successful as a nation with IREV, but nobody would claim BVAS did not work.
“The EU report, to our surprise, has accused the former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo of preventing members of the opposition from going about their campaigns in Rivers State. We are miffed by the fact that a reputable body such as the EU would descend so low to a point where heresy and the use of ‘the strawman’ are implored
to taint the image of others
PDP said that the EU report concerning Rivers State and the alleged actions of former Governor Nyesom Wike is substantially skewed and inaccurate. It is a report in our view that was not only intended to tarnish Nigeria’s democracy, but which was also anchored on a pre-determined and biased premise.
The Party stated it is evident that the EU or its agents simply relied on unverified accounts of events peddled by gullible persons, political propagandists and mischief makers who were willing to blame even the air that they breathe for whatever went wrong during the period under review.
He further said that it is on record that the Rivers State Government within the tenure of Governor Nyesom Wike provided constructive leadership and put a level playing field in place for all political actors in Rivers State to take advantage of.
Admitting that there were a few skirmishes in some Rivers communities in the build up to the 2023 election. There is no way a government which placed a strong and effective security architecture on ground could be blamed for frustrating the opposition’s campaign bid.
“It is wrong for anyone or group of persons under whatever guise to infer that the opposition in the State was deliberately prevented from campaigning. That did not happen.