Governor Wike: "Judicial Gang-Up Against Me Will Fail"

Governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, has described the nullification of his election by the Election Petition Tribunal as a gang up against him and the people of the state arguing that the judiciary was setting a dangerous precedent in the country with the way it had gone about elections in the oil-rich state.

The Tribunal on Saturday nullified Wike’s election as governor and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct fresh rerun elections in the state within 90 days.

The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Governor, Mr Opunabo Nko-Tariah in a statement yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, alleged that there had been an effort to wrestle power from Wike through the back door.

He, however, said that legal steps will be taken to defend the mandates of the people evidenced in the April 11 general election.

“What is going on right now can best be described as judicial gang-up against Governor Wike, nay, the people of Rivers State. It is an affront on democracy and a blight disregard for the will of the people as evinced in the April 11 general elections.

“The courts are setting pernicious precedents by hinging their verdicts on inane points. Rivers people overwhelmingly gave their mandate to Governor Wike but a microscopic few want to wrest that mandate from him through the back door”, Nko-Tariah said.

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