Attempting to steal people's mandate is a serious crime ---Wike
(Nigeria)Nigerians are now at home
with the superlative performance
of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike in terms of infrastructural development,
security and human capital development.
As a result, several associations are now hosting their National and International Events in Rivers State. One of such groups is the Nigerian Guild of Editors. The Leadership of the Guild met with the governor for a pre-national conference breakfast meeting.
As a result, several associations are now hosting their National and International Events in Rivers State. One of such groups is the Nigerian Guild of Editors. The Leadership of the Guild met with the governor for a pre-national conference breakfast meeting.
In this interactive session with the standing committee
members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo
Wike talks about his projects, the rerun elections, foreign scholarships
and and security issues in the state.
Excerpts:
Why we are open to host national and international events?
Let me thank the Nigerian Guild of Editors for bringing their Annual General Conference to Rivers
State. One important benefit of this
conference is that it will let the
public know that Port Harcourt is safe , Rivers State is
safe. To let you know that several
international and national conferences
have taken place here in the last
one month. In the course of the last one
month, we have had the AMAA here, we
have also had the Magistrates Association of Nigeria National Conference. We will be hosting the Annual
Conference of the Nigerian Bar
Association , the Federal High Court Judges Legal Year, the Conference of Chartered Arbitrators and the PDP National
Convention. That shows that all the
rumours you may be hearing are not true. Apart from that, these national conferences will boost our economy. We have
several hotel bookings,
local transport and feeding as well as other benefits that will accrue to residents of the state.
The state government will also make
revenue in terms of taxation.
The importance of the media?
When they say we have three arms of government, I don't agree. I believe the the Media is the fourth arm of government.
Why do I say so. Everybody
depends on the
information from the media. Information is key. Information is the
raw material for decision making . It is important that you always publish information that will
promote democracy. Part of the
reason the coup failed in Turkey was because of the publicity
from the media.
The media should help this country to let the world know what Nigeria is facing.
For me as a governor,
this is an opportunity and not a right. When you have this
privilege, you use it for the benefit of
the people. We know what we passed
through to get to this point.
My struggles as a governor?
Nobody has had the
type of legal tussle we have had. Mine started before my
inauguration. Of course, attempts were
made to make sure that I was not inaugurated.
To tell you how bad it was, I was
not allowed to use the police ceremonial vehicle for my inauguration. We had to borrow from Ondo State. We thank God that has passed but I have to give you the background.
Thereafter, the legal
tussle continued until
January 27, 2016 when we were free to move forward. If you
compare from June, May 29 was on
Friday and work started on Monday. From
that time to January 27, 2016, it was
one problem or the other. From the Tribunal
to the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court . When you have such problems, you hardly can be focused. But I thank
God that we were focused and we
did not allow that to distract us.
Initial Challenges resolved?
When we came on board,
we inherited four months
salary arrears and six months pension
arrears. We give God the glory
that we have been able to pay all. The then Sharks of Port Harcourt,
Dolphin and Rivers Angels were owed for eight months. We were able to clear
that. And we said , with the economy, it
would be
difficult for us to maintain three
clubs. For Sharks and Dolphin , we had to merge them to form Rivers
United. The club is doing well and it is contesting for the league.
On foreign scholarships?
Some people may say
that there are children who are on oversees scholarships whom they claim the
state has abandoned. That is not true.
We must tell ourselves the simple truth. Yes before, the state under the
previous administration was getting N20billion,
but now we get N3billion to N4billion
monthly. You have to prioritize and tell the people the reality . I am not against giving out scholarships when you have the
resources. At the time we came, the state was owing about N4billion on these foreign
scholarships. If you pay the N4billion debt, that is not the end. You have to pay for
those at different levels of
study. Scholarship is good to encourage
our people. But there are
certain courses you don't send people
abroad to study because our universities
offer such programmes. Why would I send students abroad
to study English Language, Social Studies or Political Science? But we are ready to offer scholarships to
students to study peculiar courses in medicine and engineering.
We said look, it is not possible for the state as it is now to fund
scholarships in courses that are offered here in Nigeria. We agreed to pay off
for those writing their final year
examinations which amounted to
N1.8 billion. Those of them studying English, Political Science and
Accountancy, we said that we will
still give you scholarships, but it will
be in Nigerian universities. We expect
them to return to take this offer. To say that they would remain
on the state's account is not possible.
Some of them, their parents are rich and they are not from poor background. Yes, there are few from poor background. Some scholarships are for children who are not from Rivers State. In some instances, they were political scholarships.
As it is today, we don't have the funds to continue with such scholarships.
Infrastructural development?
We decided to commence
our infrastructural
development from the State
Capital because that is where the first
time visitor lands. When you get a bad impression about the state capital, this
impression is likely to force you out of the state. If you see bad
roads in the state capital, you are
likely to have negative impression of
the state. We took a decision to fix the roads and other infrastructural
needs of
Port Harcourt City. They were really bad at the time we assumed office.
We also resolved to use reputable
construction companies to carry out
the works. We engaged Julius Berger,
CCECC, CGC, Setraco. In fact, the
whole of the city has been handled by Julius Berger and CCECC. That is why you see quality roads with no potholes in the state capital.
You can see within the Government House, Julius Berger is restoring the old
Brick House, the former
administrative office of the
state. They are also building a
chapel of worship.
I had a policy that even though we did not start some
of the
roads, when we feel that they are relevant we will complete them. Why do
you abandon relevant projects where public
funds have been committed. When
we took that decision, some criticised
us, saying start your own. The problem we have in this country is leaders insisting on starting
their own projects. All projects that had bearing with the needs of the
people have been completed.
That is why today, you will hardly
find abandoned projects in the state. Look at the law faculty at the
Rivers State University of Science and Technology. Since Okilo ,
nobody wanted to complete it. But we have completed it and it is the best in the country, with
electronic and traditional libraries and other state-of-the-art facilities.
See our roads. The whole of Diobu , the whole of Borikiri have had their roads
reconstructed. If you are a Port Harcourt person, you will
appreciate the massive development
that is taking place. For the past ten years, we have never had Street lights. We made it a policy
to fix Street lights on all the major streets in Port Harcourt. Since you are in town, take off time in the
night and drive through Ikwerre road, Aba road and other major streets to appreciate
the transformation taking place. This has also enhanced security.
Security in the state?
As regards to security, I have always maintained that nobody
should politicise security.
Because when you begin to politicize
security, the society will be in trouble. I think I am the only state governor who has had more than four Commissioners of Police
since I became governor. Each time, they
change a Commissioner of Police when an election is approaching. When the election is over , they bring another one. That is how they
change the Director of the
DSS. This is not helping anyone.
When a Commissioner of Police is settling down to plan with the
state government on how to
improve security, they transfer
him, bring another person and the
process starts all over. I ask myself what is the benefit of these frequent
changes. There are people who believe
that there should be crisis in
this state. Who will it benefit if there is crisis? When we had cases of kidnappings, instead of
others to sit down with the state to resolve
the challenge, they started
making unreasonable remarks. So I ran to
God to pray. God now helped and the problem has been transferred to other states.
Now, we have kidnapping everywhere
in Nigeria. In some states,
they kidnap diplomats and traditional rulers .Kidnapping is almost
gone here. It is not by my power , it is by God's grace. When they
said they will declare State of
Emergency here, I said God save
me and He saved me by pushing insecurity
to other states. Kidnapping
is now a national crime.
On pipeline vandalism
This is the only state that you have not seen oil
pipeline vandalism. I believe in the unity of this country. I believe that if the economy collapses, the state will collapse. We are doing everything to make
sure we don't have that kind of crisis here. What the Federal Government should
do is to give us support to consolidate our security measures.
Rivers State is for PDP
There are states that traditionally belong to a political
party. Even in the United States , you
have states that are for Democrats and those that are for Republicans. You also have swing states. In Nigeria, there are states that are traditional to some
political parties. Rivers State
is one of such states. It
belongs to the
PDP. When you use force to
attempt to collect it, you cause crisis. People
will resist. When you want to
steal the mandate of the people, it is more heinous than other crimes. Stealing the mandate
of the
people is a serious crime and it is worse than armed robbery. The
difference is that while the ordinary armed robber uses arms to steal money, this
political armed robbers use arms to
steal votes. When you are armed to snatch ballot boxes, is it not armed
robbery? It is even worse . If you have
in mind to commit election robbery, the people
will resist it.
That was what happened
during the March 19 rerun elections. They came to rig
us, so that they will have the number in
the Assembly to impeach me. You know
they cancelled over 90percent of the Assembly seats and everything for the National Assembly. So they came to rig the elections. I told them to have a rethink because
it would not be easy to do that
in Rivers State.
Unnecessary deployment of armed forces for the rerun
elections?
I have never seen the kind of security I saw during the
March rerun elections . Even if Obama
comes, there would not be that kind of security. I thought
even the President has never
had that kind of security. It was
unbelievable. I make a state broadcast
as an incumbent state governor, some other person would go and make a broadcast. The Federal Government behaved as if
nothing was happening. I knew it would be difficult because when you
push a people to the wall, they react. We resisted them. The same people
who said there was no election, are now
the persons at the Tribunal saying that they won. When they claimed there was no elections, now they are saying they should declare them winners. I have never seen such
a thing in my life. People came out in
Press Conferences that there were no
elections, but today they are saying they won.
Rivers State is peaceful
They say Rivers State is not
peaceful and I say that Rivers
State is very peaceful. Since there were
no elections, have you been
hearing of killings? That tells you that the reports of insecurity were only
sponsored for political gains. When they come now to say we should make peace, I agreed
because I am a peace maker. Even
though it was a set up because nobody
told me that I was
invited for a peaceful meeting. I was invited to go and see the DG of the DSS
without knowing that something was going on. If you look at the pictures, I was alone. I didn't go with anybody
thinking that I was going to see the DG. Reaching there I saw the other
people. I am not against peace, but what I am discovering now,
calls for vigilance. Nigeria is to big for you to think that you will plan
and nobody will know. Nobody will take me by surprise. You told me to make peace and I am making peace. But what I am seeing now
shows that there is a game going on. As I speak
to you, they have
transferred all key senior policemen and
they are bringing people they think will do their bid. The one that is shocking
is the police officer who caused serious
crisis during the March 19 rerun elections. He was queried and
transferred out of Rivers State, now
they have brought him back. The same security
people who said we should make
peace are doing a different thing. Tomorrow,
you will say there is no peace in
Rivers State. Do we need to deceive
ourselves? Rivers State is a critical
state as far as Nigeria is concerned.
You can't take our mandate by force. As I speak
with you, there is nothing I can't
do for Rivers State. I can lay down my life for the state. If you like , bring American marines, the worst that will happen is that they will kill all of us. If that is
the sacrifice, so be it. I don't when we agree on something, you start doing a different thing,
it is not the best.
My information to INEC
I wrote to INEC use your
staff for the rerun
elections. Leave these
university people. Why? You don't know
where their loyalty will be. I schooled
at the University of Port Harcourt, so
I know all the lecturers. I know who is
a supporter of PDP and I know who is a supporter of APC. Rivers
State is the only
state holding elections,
so go and take all your staff
, bring them here, let them conduct free
and fair elections. Because
they appointed the Vice
Chancellor of the university, they made him compile names of their loyalists as
returning officers, took same to
INEC and
INEC approved. There was no
problem. But the problem started when they saw the results from the field. When they noticed that the APC was not winning, they ran away. There was nobody to collate the results. Then the elections became inconclusive.
I just can't understand. Even if it is your father's younger brother, bring him. Results will come from the field
and he must collate the results. When results
come from the field, you won't see the returning officer, he has taken off and they say it is inconclusive.
And they reschedule.
Failing Propaganda
They intensified
propaganda that once you land in
Rivers State, kidnappers will abduct you at the airport. But you have
been here for days and you have experienced the security.
Lies are easy to sell, but they
don't last. They have a terminal period.
When the terminal period comes the truth
takes over. This Port Harcourt you have
come will expose you to the truth. I will
give INEC all the
support to conduct free and fair elections. This is only one state. What happens in 2019 when they conduct elections
for the whole country. I have told my people to be prepared. If you
are sleeping, don't sleep again.
This peace we are making, I suspect they want to come without us knowing. Let's be prepared. I don't trust these people. INEC can announce election
any day. They did it in
Abuja. When they fixed elections on a working
day. Nobody is travelling.
PDP will continue to
win in Rivers State?
Do the elections 200
times, it will be the same results. They are only postponing the day of reckoning. They are trying to
cover the political
inadequacies of one man. They say
they don't want him to be embarrassed.
But there is no embarrassment. It is the voice of the people that
matter. Elections are the
prerogative of the people. It has nothing to
do with the
political image of
anyone.
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