‘‘I see a new National Electoral Commission, in which all registered political parties shall have representatives in its board; a commission whose chairman and state commissioners shall be appointed by the National Judicial Council and approved by the National Assembly, and shall be answerable to the National Assembly’’- Quoted in Nowinta’s book, 2009: WHERE WE ARE (page 173)
Pebbles with Igbotako Nowinta
Shortly after the Gubernatorial Election results of Rivers State was declared, with Nyesom Wike emerging as the winner I told some people that they (results) would be ultimately cancelled.
I was so sure that the Nyesom Wike will never last long as the Governor of Rivers State because of the alleged level of fraudulent and criminal votes allocated to him as a result of the April 11th 2015 election in that State.
Just last week here as the news of Election Petitions Tribunal judgments in other states were flooding the social media and the air waves, I told a colleague that Nyesom Wike is the next guy to be sent packing
It was abundantly clear that the members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and by implication loyalists of Nyesom Wike threw caution to the winds in their desperate agenda to disrobe and disgrace former Governor Rotimi Amaechi for standing up against former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
The recent verdict of Justice Suleiman Ambosu-led Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja is nothing but one of the much awaited news since the historic April 11, 2015 Governorship and House of Assembly elections.
By cancelling the Governorship election results in Rivers State and ordering a fresh one within 90 days the Election Petition Tribunal has simply done the much anticipated by those honest and focused voters in Rivers State who could not access the polling centers on that day.
Readers will agree with me that the Governorship election in Rivers State was a gigantic minus and disservice to democracy because of the magnitude of violence that dotted the exercise.
We watched with our mouths open as well paid and fed political thugs unleashed barbaric tactics on defenseless and innocent voters in a staggering bid to please their demented masters.
Perhaps Nyesom Wike and his foot soldiers thought the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Professor Attahiru Jega was kidding with the introduction of the Card Readers devise during the 2015 general elections.
If not they would never have gone that far in engaging in that reckless, needless bloodletting and criminal activities that became the order of the day during the election.
I am so cock sure that if the results of the March 28th Presidential election in Rivers State are brought before any unbiased election petition tribunal it will be cancelled outrightly because of the massive rigging that took place there.
I am not a fan of Dakuku Peterside of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, neither do I care a hoot about who eventually wins in that state. The fact of the matter is that we have come a long tortuous way in this country.
We have reached a point that all hands must be put on the deck to sanitize our electoral system and insist that desperate characters like Nyesom Wike are checkmated from grabbing power for personal aggrandizement and witch-hunting of political rivals or opponents.
In less than five months in office, Nyesom Wike has taken a 10 billion naira loan in a state as rich as Rivers.
I am not saying that ex-Governor Rotimi Amaechi is a saint but the magnitude of propaganda war being unleashed against him by Wike is quite unhealthy for democratic peace and tolerance in Rivers State
The one single stark fact that came out from the March 28 and April 11 2015 general elections in Nigeria is that professional election riggers will no longer have a field day again.
Whether Nyesom Wike and his legal advisers are going to challenge his recent sack via an appeal or not the truth is that things will never be the same again for unpopular politicians within and across the country.
If you ask me Nyesom Wike is on his way out permanently out of Government House in Port-Harcourt.
Wike is going and will be gone by the time the rescheduled Governorship Election is conducted within the next 90 days in Rivers State.
Nowinta wrote Where We Are – A Call for Democratic Revolution in Nigeria.
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