The All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, has reacted to Governor, Nyesom Wike’s directive prohibiting the use of public schools for political rallies without permission.
Publicity Secretary of the party, Hon. Darlington Nwauju in a statement said the directive is geared towards intimidating political parties in the state.
His statement reads,
STRANGE “LAWS” ON POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS IN RIVERS STATE:
We wish to draw the attention of the public to
Section 91 of the 2022 Electoral Act which resonates with Section 40 of the Constitution. And in layman’s language –
*No political party in Nigeria can be prevented from holding rallies, processions or meetings. It is also the duty of the Commissioner of Police in each state to provide adequate security cover for such rallies or meetings and also in a consultative manner resolve any conflict of time and venue amongst the political parties.* No state government can amend any section of the Electoral Act by issuing decrees that are strange to the Electoral Act. The INEC Chairman recently warned state governments against using the power of incumbency to intimidate opponents.
Will the PDP in Rivers State pay the cautionary fee of #5million naira and write applications 2weeks ahead of time before it uses any public school for rallies?
We suspect that there is a grand plot to deploy all sorts of underhand tactics to intimidate political opponents in the state; narrow the political space, shush every voice of reason and turn all known democratic ethos upside down.
We ask again – *does this move by the state government not completely make nonsense of the recently signed peace accord?”
