The Rivers Elders and Leadership Council (RELEC) has
called on the people of the Niger Delta state to massively vote on Saturday for
the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Dakuku
Adol Peterside.
The leaders insisted that another Ikwerre person would
not be allowed to succeed Governor Rotimi Amaechi, an Ikwerre from Ubima in
Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers state.
RELEC, through its Chairman; Chief Albert Horsfall, a
former Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Wednesday in Port
Harcourt, stated that the upland/riverine dichotomy in the state must be
respected.
The Rivers elders were apparently referring to the
state's governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief
Nyesom Wike, an Ikwerre, and a former Minister of State for Education, who
hails from Rumueprikom in Obio/Akpor LGA.
RELEC said: “It is the considered directive and advice
of the RELEC elders that all Rivers people should vote Dakuku Peterside for
governor and accordingly urge Peterside and all other riverine candidates to
enter into immediate consultations to collaborate, in order to avoid splitting
the votes for single riverine candidate.
“We must not sleep-walk into another avoidable
catastrophe. We must ignore anyone or group who tries to instigate us to
violence, with the erroneous impression that what we could not do when we were
in authority and power for six years, we could do now if we remain in power
another day or year.
“Is it not sad and disgraceful that since 1999 when
civilian democracy returned to this country, this state has never had a proper
democratic election, where-as other states have all tried, successfully and
started to do so? For us, it has been the same practice of 'carry go'; stuffing
of ballot boxes; intimidation and violence, and writing false results, after
illegal thumb printing of ballot papers.
“We are pre-dominantly Christians in this state and we
must not allow religious politics or politicking to grow in the state. Christ
and Christianity is our chosen and cherished belief; nothing must be done to
subvert or undermine our own way of life. The rights, traditions and culture of
our people must be respected and recognized.
“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 is what
we get when we vote a PDP candidate for governor. So, think again, our dear
Rivers people.”
The elders also stated that a successful, but partly
rigged election for governorship was conducted in 1998, and a stable
administration emerged after that election in 1999, stressing that the sailing
was okay and there was a peaceful and trouble-free conduct of affairs in Rivers
state throughout 1999 and most of year 2000, lamenting that from 2001, killer
gangs were organised by top politicians in the state government, first under a
serving police officer, to hunt down and kill imagined opponents.
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