The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the 2015 governorship election in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, yesterday raised doubts about the fairness of the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the election of Governor Nyesom Wike. Thenationonline reports..
He said Wike had a foreknowledge of the judgment —going by his actions and utterances.
Dr. Peterside told a news conference in Port Harcourt that Wike’s threat to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was “unbecoming”.
He also criticised Wike as lacking the moral right to speak in uncomplimentary terms about President Muhammadu Buhari and the military.
Wike denied it all, saying the APC was trying to cause confusion.
Peterside arrived at the party secretariat by 11:30 am with his running mate, Asita Honourable Asita, and some supporters.
The Supreme Court gave its decision on the Rivers governorship election on July 27, promising to make the reasons known later.
Peterside said that some of Wike’s actions and statements before and after the judgment are indicative of his foreknowledge of the judgment.
He said: “Credible information confirmed that Nyesom Wike had earlier confessed to some persons of having met one of the Justices of the Supreme Court in Mbaise during an important burial, another at Owerri in a hotel and yet others in Dubai and Saudi Arabia respectively . These Justices were in the panel that decided the matter in Wike’s favour.
“However, the most striking revelation by Nyesom Wike is contained in his account at the thanksgiving service last Sunday. He obviously stunned his audience and the watching world when he confessed that when it came to the Judges, Dr. Peter Odili and the wife Justice Mary Odili (a Justice of the Supreme Court) were his advisers.
“This simply confirmed his earlier statements that he had contact with the Justices after several attempts to reach the Chief Justice of the country failed.It is therefore obvious that the decision of the Supreme Court on the Rivers State Election was not a product of justice but rather a product of compromise and orchestrated contrivance to legalise electoral violence and rigging and, in turn, reward injustice. This calls for serious introspection by our Judiciary and judicial officers.
“For the records, in his speech at the church service, Governor Nyesom Wike probably forgot that he was on live telecast when he stated: ‘Let me thank our former governor, Dr. Peter Odili (husband of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili). He will call me midnight to tell me what to do….he will say ‘go to so so place.’ I took all his advice, and here we are today’.
“This shocking confession needs no further explanation, except for you and other decent Nigerians to further make your fair conclusions.”
Peterside added that also at the thanksgiving service, Wike said as a result of the the judgment , “the apex court helped in preventing bloodshed in Rivers State.”
”Blood would have flowed if the election was going to hold again….So, I called some people, including the Chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus, that I was not going to run again. They said why and I explained that if I did, many people would die.”
He added that “these voluntary confessions made by Governor Nyesom Wike confirm beyond doubt that he was obviously behind the orgy of violence during the last elections”.
Speaking on Wike’s alleged violence threat, Peterside quoted the governor as saying: ”Anyone who plans to rig an election is an armed robber and should be treated as such. If you are coming to rig an election in the state, first prepare your will before embarking on the journey. Inform your wife or husband and go ahead to say your last prayer.
”We are not afraid of any re-run at all. But we have always said if they said there should be a re-run, let it be a re-run and not to write the result. Let them bring anybody as INEC official from anywhere that wants to be funny, I wish the person must have written his Will before he comes.”
Peterside said: ”Wike promotes violence and believes so much in jungle justice but he forgets that such outlook does not have any place in a civilised society.
