The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Rivers State has reacted to the statement made by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, that the Vice Presidential candidate of ADC, Rotimi Amaechi, will be defeated by 12 noon on election-day, saying the powers to announce election results is vested on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), not Wike.
The party also stated that no politician in the state can win the forthcoming 2027 elections by boasting and sugar-coating the masses with lies and vain promises.
Wike, had during a civic reception organized in his honour by the City Boy Movement at Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, boasted that the ADC would be roundly defeated before noon on the election day, despite the fact that its Vice Presidential candidate is from the area.
The ADC in a statement on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, by the state chairman, Dr. Chukwudi Dimkpa, said Wike’s boast is revealing.
Dimkpa described Wike’s conduct at Omagwa on Saturday, as a political rascality taken too far, calling on the people of Rivers state not to be intimidated by anybody but be prepared to make the right choice in 2027 by electing a credible leader that would add value to their lives.
He said, “Elections are not won by boasts, intimidation or political strongmen announcing results in advance. Rivers people will vote, the votes will be counted, and INEC, not Wike will declare the winner.
“On a day when Rotimi Amaechi was burying his mother and people from across Nigeria were travelling to Ubima to commiserate with the family, Wike and the Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area (Charles Wobodo) chose that same route and occasion for a political reception, obstructing part of the road, creating unnecessary traffic and then turning the event into a platform for attacking and taunting a man who was mourning his mother. It was insensitive, provocative and embarrassing.”
The ADC chairman also stated there is always a time for politics and there is a time for humanity, saying that “if Wike could not suspend his political obsession with Amaechi even for the few hours in which the man was laying his mother to rest, then Rivers people should ask themselves who really is consumed by this rivalry.
“We refused to dignify the provocation with a response that day (Saturday) because our attention was on giving Mama (Dame Ezinne Amaechi) a befitting burial. But Wike should understand that Rivers State belongs to all of us. Nobody owns the people, nobody owns their votes, and certainly, nobody can declare an election result by 12 noon.”
Wike had told his supporters at the reception that all candidates chosen by the Rainbow Coalition would win the elections next year.
