Police probe: Wike’s rejection of panel is bad omen, says Rivers APC
The All Progressives Congress, APC, Rivers State Chapter, has described the refusal of Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to cooperate with the Panel set up by the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris, to investigate the violence that marred the December 10 legislative rerun elections in the State as a bad omen.
The state Chairman of the party, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said in a statement circulated yesterday in Port Harcourt that Wike’s rejection of the panel was a direct affront to Federal powers.
Dr. Ikanya in the release signed by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said that the position of the governor should be swiftly met with appropriate response by those whose authority he was allegedly challenging in order to deter others from following what he described as a dangerous example.
The party expressed dismay that Governor Wike “has the effrontery to set up a parallel Commission of Enquiry on the rerun elections. By so doing, Wike has clearly crossed the line and should be put in his proper place by the Federal Government whose powers he is brazenly challenging.”
The party alleged that Wike’s sole purpose in setting up the commission was to ridicule APC leaders and rubbish the efforts by the Police to probe and stop further killings in Rivers State.
“It is laughable and a mockery of civilised procedure for Wike, whom everybody knows is the brain behind most of the killings and insecurity in Rivers State, to set up a judicial commission on the said killings instead of submitting himself to a Federal Panel set up by a neutral party.
“As much as we respect Hon. Justice Chinwendu Nwogu, we pray and hope that by accepting to chair this kangaroo commission, he will not end up allowing Wike to ridicule his hard-earned reputation. The truth is that, if the commission is to be taken serious, it should indict both Wike and the State PDP Chairman, Bro. Felix Obuah, for their belligerent acts that fueled violence during the rerun polls.
“We wish to caution all and sundry that Wike’s recent boast that no force even God can remove him from office shouldn’t be taken on its face value as this is one of his strategies to shout of an attack and later embark upon another act of hooliganism and mayhem in Rivers State knowing very well that nobody or agency can call him to order,” the APC alleged.
Dr. Ikanya stated that Governor Wike’s alleged antagonism against the current Federal Government under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari must be condemned by all and sundry, adding that the continued treatment of Wike’s excesses with kid gloves was a bad omen which should, he continued, be decisively checked before it plunged the country into avoidable chaos.
The party, then, declared that Governor Wike must submit himself to the Police Probe Panel to throw more light on the audio tape in which he was allegedly heard threatening to kill INEC officials.
