Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has berated the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the worsening state of insecurity and tension in the country, saying his successor will spend his tenure fixing the ethnic, religious and socio-economic problems created by the All Progressives Congress-led government.
The governor noted that since the APC administration assumed office in 2015, religious intolerance and ethnic divisions had deepened. He added that security had also been politicised.
He stated this during the official presentation of a letter of nomination to him for the “ 2020 Extra-Ordinary Personality of the Year Award” by the management of Silverbird Group at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday.
Wike said despite the glaring poor insecurity, and religious and ethnic divisions in the country, officials of the Nigerian government have continued to live in denial by insisting that Nigeria is now more united and secure than ever.
The Rivers State governor maintained that whoever becomes President in 2023 will spend his entire reign trying to resolve the various socio-economic crises caused by the present administration.
The governor blamed the seeming inability of the military to end insurgency in the North-East and other parts of the country to the involvement of sacked Service Chiefs, particularly former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, in politics.
He said, “You were witnesses to how under Buratai, the army was exposed to politics, which had never happened in the history of this country. The army began to carry ballot boxes. I had never seen that. Before, we used to talk about the police, now it’s no longer the police.
“Professionalism is no longer there and that is why it is difficult to fight insecurity. Instead of concentrating and mapping out a strategy, what they are interested in is Rivers State. Who will we send there to make sure the election is rigged? The former Chief of Army Staff will even call the Independent National Electoral Commission to cancel the Rivers State election because of his interest. I had never seen this kind of thing in my life.”
The governor said it was regrettable the former Chief of Army Staff failed to condemn his personnel who invaded the INEC office in Port Harcourt a day after the state governorship election in 2019, allegedly in an attempt to subvert the wishes of the people.
Wike said instead, he chose to shield them from prosecution. The
“If there is a country that means well for its citizens, the former General Officer Commanding in Rivers State would have been dismissed from the Army, but because he was sent by his so-called leaders, they had to protect him. That is the country that we are in, and that is why we think the media should come up and tell the world some of these stories.”
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