They want to move the case to Calabar and kill it – Wike

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has raised fresh alarm, saying there have been moves to remove the case of arrest of fake election results printing from Port Harcourt (Rivers) to Calabar (Cross River), just to kill the matter.

Wike said there were moves to remove the matter out of the reach of the people of the state so that it dies a natural death.

The governor, however, warned again that the people of the state would resist such attempts with everything in their possession, but admitted that he has not taken the matter to the president; only to the court of public opinion.

The governor had led a team to impound and apprehend those printing election results at D-Line area of Port Harcourt on Saturday, November 5, 2016. He said he had been monitoring the group and only pounced on them when it was mature.

Speaking in Government House Wednesday, November 9, 2016, the governor, who is in a running battle with his predecessor, said Zone 6 in Calabar had asked to take over the case. He said it was clear that the opposition party (APC) may have written a petition to warrant the higher level to come into the matter.

On why it was the Government House that led the operation, the governor said the law permitted any citizen who saw a crime in action to arrest the suspect and hand over to the police. He also denied setting up the suspects, saying he could not have known the unit codes of the voting centres.

He also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of compromise and unseriousness over the upcoming rerun elections.

Wike said President Muhammadu Buhari has so far ordered that the Ondo and Rivers elections must be allowed to be free and non-violent to prove to the world that the FG was committed to credible elections in 2019.

The governor, therefore, urged the police and INEC to respect the wish of the president and go ahead to arrest those mentioned in the printing saga, warning that failure to do so would amount to causing chaos against the wish of the FG.

He said: “This matter must not die; justice must prevail. If nothing happens, we would be forced to take the law into our hands, which we do not want to do.”

He accused the APC of doing the same thing in the past by turning up with results other than the one recorded at the polling centres. He urged the press to speak out on the matter to protect Nigeria’s democracy.

He said: “The police should listen to Mr. President and arrest the big names mentioned by the suspect. Let the world know the outcome of police investigation in this simple matter of arrest of fake results printer.”

He insisted that there was no security problem in Rivers State and that the INEC and APC should not stage any to warrant crisis during the rerun elections. “AIG coming in is not acceptable. The CP here reports to the same IG. Let the case be handled in Rivers State and swiftly so that the world can know the outcome”.

The APC had since reacted, saying the entire scenario was a stage-managed circus show to frame up key opposition leaders to give the PDP an easy ride in the rerun expected to produce national and state lawmakers.