Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers state, has told members of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River not to be intimidated by the antics of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC ahead of the February 26 by-election.
Wike made the call while addressing, candidates, Party stalwarts at the Flag off of Campaigns of Ogoja l/ Yala Federal Constituency & Akpabuyo State constituency bye-elections at the Calabar Sports Club on Saturday, February 19, 2022.
He said it was unfortunate and shameful for anyone to try to intimidate members of PDP by using security operatives to stop a rally for ordinary Federal and state Constituency bye Elections.
Wike added that any government that has done well will not use such gimmick in its bid to stop a rally unless they were not confident or have not done well for the people stressing that ruling APC was afraid of signing the electoral bill into law which is before President Buhari because they are afraid of transmission of result and the level of transparency the act will guarantee.
His words:” Why on earth will they try to stop an ordinary rally if they have done well, this is just bye-elections for federal and state constituency, what if it was the governorship, what would they have done ?. If they had succeeded in stopping us from holding the rally, that would have been the end of the party in Cross River, but we are very resilient people.
” 2023 is not 2019, PDP means business, we are taking over Cross River state, go out and get your PVCs, make sure you vote and also make sure you guide and protect your vote, it is obvious that you are ready to take over Cross River once again.
“Do not be afraid, they tried it in Rivers state, but we resisted them, it is just a form of intimidation, I thought the only way to test the people is to allow them to hold their rally whether they would come or not, but with the crowd here, it shows that things are not well with them (APC).
“With the bye-elections, they will know and understand that it is no longer business as usual, indeed we will leave no stone unturned, we must defeat APC forget about presidential ambition we must win this first,” he said.
Speaking earlier the Chairman of PDP in Cross River, Venatius Ikem Esq expressed satisfaction over the patience of Party stalwarts adding that they tried to stop them but it did not work.
“They tried to stop us but they could not, we have mobilised, we are ready for the elections, nobody can stop us, nobody can intimidate us,” he said.
Source: Vanguard
