Uncertainty has enveloped the proposed rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate Atiku Abubakar in Rivers State.
It was gathered Friday that the campaign initially scheduled for Saturday had been postponed indefinitely by the Rivers chapter of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council headed by Dr. Abiye Sekibo.
The Rivers’ share of Atiku’s campaign was said to be hanging in the balance over issues bordering on alleged lack of sincerity by Atiku’s campaigners in the state and unavailability of venue.
Despite the decision of Governor, Nyesom Wike, to reinstate the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium for the rally, Atiku’s campaigners were said to have rejected the offer.
While the state PDP had accused the Atiku campaigners of scaremongering to create tension and use insecurity as a reason while the rally should not hold, the Atiku’s men had insisted that they were targets of attacks in the state.
On Friday, Sekibo claimed that he was attacked by gunmen in the night while on his way to inspect a new venue for the campaign, which he said was in Rainbow Town Port Harcourt.
While Sekibo refused to mention the exact location of venue in Rainbow Town, he only presented a picture he took from his compound that showed that his bulletproof car SUV was riddled with bullets with the vehicle’s front tyre completely burnt.
The Publicity Secretary of the state PDP campaign Council, Ogbonna Nwuke, completely disagreed with Sekibo’s attempt to create an impression that his attackers were policemen attached to Rivers Government House.
Nwuke said all evidence released by Sekibo showed that his claim of attack was false and required thorough police investigations.
He noted that such scaremongering was the reason why the Atiku’s campaigners rushed to the court to get an order preventing security agencies from arresting them.
Debunking the claims by Sekibo, Nwuke said: “Sekibo was Secretary to Government in this State and he knows the way government operates. He knows that Government security is not involved in activities outside the protection of the governor.
“He claimed he went to a venue where they were supposed to hold a rally. That venue which he claims to be in Rainbow Town was not precisely defined. If you go around Rainbow Town you will find that there is no place where a normal rally can hold.
“Sekibo should tell Rivers people and the world where that venue he chose to go to in the middle of the night is. The Rivers State Government has released a stadium as sought by them for use, the same people have refused to use the stadium because they know they cannot attract the kind of crowd required to make a political statement here.
“So, they ran away from the offer that they have only to stage what looks like an attack. I have seen pictures of the said car. How did Sekibo escape from the venue with the front tyre completely shot down? If you look at the picture, you will know that it is a daytime shot, it was not a night time shot. It would have made sense if Sekibo had taken those pictures at night to buttress evidence that at night he was attacked in Rivers State.
“This is rascality, falsehood taken too far. I think as politicians, we all hold the responsibility to ensure that there is law and order particularly now that we are headed towards an election. To raise tension on the basis of falsehood is ridiculous.
“Politicians should face the people with what they want to do instead of creating diversionary tactics and in doing so create tension among ordinary law-abiding citizens. I didn’t believe that Sekibo was attacked although we are waiting for the outcome of security investigations.
“It is strange to hear that a man heard according to him that the venue was on fire and he left his home knowing there could be danger to go and find out what happened to the venue. You said you saw people who were armed from afar and you assumed that those vehicles according to you came from the Government.
“You can see a person trying to put together a tissue of lies just to make an impression. It is possible that they really did not want to hold a rally here in Rivers. If they had given them money to hold the rally but they don’t want to hold it, it is their business but there is a limit to falsehood”.
Besides, Nwuke said the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, had invested heavily on security architecture to secure the state and could not at the same time be creating an atmosphere of insecurity.
Nwuke said with the performance of the governor in the state, Rivers PDP required absolute peace to hold the forthcoming election because it was certain the people would follow the direction of the governor.
He said those posing as Atiku’s campaigners such as Nwuke were not in any way in the same political wavelength with the governor and lacked electoral value to attract any attention from the government
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