More Condemnations Trail Attacks On Opposition Parties In Rivers
3 min read
Edith CHUKU
Condemnations have continued to trail the incessant attacks on campaign venues, supporters and candidates of opposition parties in the forthcoming 2023 elections, in Rivers State.
Most recent of this unholy incident happened yesterday, at the campaign ground of the All Progressives Congress APC, in Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of the state.
Recall that not long ago, the governorship candidate of Accord, Chief Dumo Lulu Briggs, the governorship candidate of the SDP, Sen. Magnus Abe, their party’s candidates and their supporters were attacked on their way to a rally within the state.
At Opobo/Nkoro, there was sporadic gunshots, canopies destroyed, chairs vandalized and supporters seriously attacked.
The immediate past Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside has condemned the attack which he described as unwarranted.
Dakuku who expressed deep reservations over the incident, accused the local government chairman, Enyiada Cookey-Gam of allegedly introducing violence into an area he said has been insulated from political violence since 1999.
The 2015 governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers State, while urging the people of Opobo-Nkoro to vote competence over clan, described the state governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike as a man “lacking courage, tact, reason and finess.”
According to him, “it is a shame that the local government chairman will go the extent of attacking his fellow Opobo people because of politics, something that has never happened in our political history. This is a new low for a chairman who has largely been incompetent and a stooge to an equally incompetent governorship candidate.
“Opobo people have been known for political tolerance, diplomacy, exposure and decency but the chairman, acting on the instruction of his gods, has now joined the home of our forebears to the list of flashpoints in Rivers State; this is reckless, irresponsible and disgraceful to say the least.”
He continued that, “surgeon to perform surgery, competent pilot to fly plane and competent architect to draw houses,” rather than choosing a clan’s man who lacks the requisite knowledge to perform any tactical duty.
“We cannot choose our clan’s man who is not a doctor to perform surgery or who is not a pilot to fly plane; we cannot go for clan over competence and character. The APC has in Tonye Cole, a competent, graceful, intelligent, capable and read-for-the-job governorship candidate. Our people will vote for the APC from bottom to the top and not amount of intimidation will change that.
“Wike avoids difficult conversations, lacks vision and pursues personal interest above people’s interest. I dare Wike to tell the people the presidential candidate he is supporting if he is a man. He had promised his fans that he will unveil his candidate latest January but he lacks courage to take a position.”
He described the governor as a multidimensional failure in governance, whose major accomplishment is investment in media to create false impression to hide his ineptitude in good governance delivery, nepotism and crude politics.
The Opobo/Nkoro APC rally was attended by the party’s governorship candidate, Tonye Cole; his running mate, Innocent Barikor; Rivers South East Senatorial candidate, Ambassador Orji Ngofa; House of Reps candidate for Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency; House of Assembly candidate, Hon Emma Taribo, among other thousands of party faithful.
