Guber Race: I’m Not Desperate To Become Governor -YPP Candidate
5 min read
Edith CHUKU
Governorship candidate of the Young Progressive Party, YPP, in Rivers State, Danagogo Wenike-Briggs, has said he is only passionate but not desperate to become the governor of the state.
Speaking ahead of the March 11 governorship and house of assembly elections in the state, Wenike-Briggs frowned at the alleged illegalities that characterized the February 25th presidential and National Assembly elections.
According to the YPP candidate, some of the violence that occurred was partly ignited by the order of the incumbent governor of the state, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, who at the dying minute, urged PDP members and party supporters to vote for the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He believes that that order changed a lot of narratives, as many accepted, while some disagreed, leading to some of the issues that arose in some polling units in the state.
Wenike-Briggs also charged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure there is no manipulation in the course of the final announcement.
Speaking with TNN in a telephone interview, he expressed dismay that the Rivers State results announced so far by INEC might not represent the will of the people of the state.
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“The result is not in any way in line with the will of the people of Rivers State. There is a lot of malpractices happening because I overheard, I have people everywhere, I have friends who are contesting in other parties, I have people in my party who actually won at the polling unit where they announced it, they will call this party, call that party and everybody was jubilating, but within a twinkle of an eye, a lot of things had just turned.
“And me, I represent the youths in Rivers State because I am running under Young Progressives Party. I am also known as a youth governor. It baffles me because the youth came out to cast their civil right, they tried to defend it but the oppression of the politicians who have been in power, who have been in government, is becoming more than what we can bear and I hope this doesn’t just take a different toll in the course of the final announcement.
By March 11, the country will witness another election; talking about the governorship and house of assembly elections, do you still have faith in INEC?
“Basically, I am pretty much very confused of what to even think because at this point, I don’t even know how to manage through with INEC, because having seen this, it’s already a preamble of what is going to happen, but we believe that somehow we will have a better election.
VICTORY SPEECH BY DR ALEX EGBONA, RETURNING MEMBER-ELECT, ABI/YAKURR FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY
“But from what I am hearing across the state from some youths, because I have had calls, people calling me here and there, knowing that I represent the youths, people complaining bitterly and because of the violence we have heard about from several people, with what is actually going on and people are saying they are not going to allow this kind of thing in the governorship process. So, it’s something that everybody needs to put head together and see how we can make this thing work amicably, the way it’s supposed to work because I now ask myself what was the role of the BVAS, I was asking myself what was now the role of the BVAS, was it just to capture people because at the end of it, manual collation was taking place, and that’s how a whole lot of things happened, because a whole lot of videos have been up there, showing how people were changing the whole thing.
Are you also of the view that the order by Governor Wike asking PDP members to vote for the presidential candidate of the APC, to an extent, contributed to the violence reported in some units and the alleged manipulation?
Words are very powerful, words are very powerful. What you say can either make a people or mar a people. You know, that order that was given changed the notion, because you can’t at that point be telling them to go and vote your opponent, it changed a whole lot of narrative, it caused a lot of confusion, the believe system within the processes began to change, because at that point people were now acting differently, some people were obeying, others were disobeying, I think it had influence on the true situation of what it is. A friend of mine won in Labour Party in House of Reps outrightly, at the end of it, they are giving it to somebody else, they are announcing somebody else as the winner. I think his comment had a great influence and Rivers people are also seeing it.
VICTORY SPEECH BY DR ALEX EGBONA, RETURNING MEMBER-ELECT, ABI/YAKURR FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY
Last Saturday’s election, we heard of killings, brutalization of ad hoc staff, among others. What is you charge to the electorate to ensure that no life is lost, to avert mayhem in the forthcoming March 11 elections?
Well, the issue of violence, brutalization in some places, at this point, Nigerians are defending their right, everybody know where the country is at the moment, so people came out. In fact, they were defending it even in the midst of the brutalization.
Now, ahead of March 11th election, I think it’s difficult to stop somebody who is passionate about what he wants to stand for, at this point people are voting their conscience, if those things happen, it is difficult to stop the youths from saying no this has to be done or this cannot be done, so it just takes the grace of God to actually avoid a whole lot of crisis from that March 11. I am also speaking to the youths, making them understand that it’s not a do or die, like me, I am not desperate to become the governor, I am only passionate, so I am putting all the skills and understanding I have and I am speaking to the youths so that we can work amicably.
