5th July, 2023
By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
The European Union Election Observation Mission on the 2023 general elections has slammed former Governor Nyesom Wike for constraining electioneering campaign environment in Rivers State.
The report said Wike imposed campaign rules that were more restrictive than INEC regulations.
The EU report on the general elections, which the presidency has already rejected, said EU election observers recorded denials of access to opposition candidates to state-owned stadiums and school premises, selectively imposed excessive venue fees, and closed party offices, to prevent the opposition from campaigning.
The report said the same constrained campaign environment was also observed in Lagos, Katsina, Kaduna, Delta, Edo, Ogun, and Kogi states.
However, in a swift reaction, the Rivers State’s Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has said that it did not accept the “Mischievous report on the just concluded elections, and the slanted comment on former Wike.
Ogbonna Nwuke, the former Spokesman of Rivers PDP Campaign Council said the report by members of the EU monitoring team in respect of the last general elections in the country has become the subject of some controversy in Nigeria and that the Nigerian Government has in very strong terms condemned the content of the report, describing it as abhourable, distasteful and fictional presentation that is totally unacceptable.
He also said it is noteworthy that INEC had similarly reacted, providing details of efforts made to set up a transparent and open system that is consistent with the age-long desire of all Nigerians for free and fair elections that were credible.
Nwuke pointed out that under this dispensation, parties in opposition had gained significant grounds in terms of representation than any time in history.
“We may not have been wholly successful as a nation with IREV, but nobody would claim BVAS did not work.
“The EU report, to our surprise, has accused the former Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo of preventing members of the opposition from going about their campaigns in Rivers State. We are miffed by the fact that a reputable body such as the EU would descend so low to a point where heresy and the use of ‘the strawman’ are implored to taint the image of others.”
The PDP said that the EU report concerning Rivers State and the alleged actions of Wike is substantially skewed and inaccurate.
“It is a report in our view that was not only intended to tarnish Nigeria’s democracy, but which was also anchored on a pre-determined and biased premise,” he said.
