Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has expressed concern over what he described as the alleged pressure being mounted on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Security Agencies to scuttle the will of Ondo people during the October 2020 Governorship Election.
But All Progressives Congress has debunked it, saying was not a part of its preparations for polls in Ondo.
Wike expressed the concern on a live television programme in Port Harcourt on Friday, saying while the people of Edo State fought godfatherism, Ondo State would respond to several unfulfilled promises made to them by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Having lost Edo State, everything will be done not to lose Ondo State because they know that will mean the end of APC,” he said.
“It is such pressure that is on INEC and the Security Agencies now that may lead to their compromising.
“I fear that INEC and the Security Agencies may succumb. But I pray they resist it and continue to defend democracy.
“In Ondo State, the will of the people are against them and incumbency will not work,” he said.
The Governor lamented the impunity exhibited by the Inspector General of Police who ordered him to leave Edo State while his Imo and Kano counterparts were not harassed.
Governor Wike explained that the Inspector General’s role was premeditated because Rivers State Government is challenging the deduction of its revenue by the Federal Government for the Police Trust Fund.
Ondo State APC Publicity Secretary, Alex Kalejaye, in a reaction to Wike’s allegation said the statement could only emanate from a man who never believed that elections could be won without crude intimidation, vilonce, and rigging saying that the thought of transparent election is alien to the likes of Governor Oyesom Wike.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State has no reason to contemplate rigging in a state where it has won the confidence of the people on account of performance and integrity. We are banking on the popularity of our candidate, his running mate, and the projects APC led government has initiated and executed in less than four years.
“The APC has constructed bridges, roads, schools; set up industrial hub at Ore, activated Bitumen production. We have recorded unprecedented intervention in Agriculture, and currently pursuing, with an uncommon vigour, building a deep sea port in the Southern Senatorial district, to boost the economy of Ondo State,” Kalejaye stated .
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