- I Won’t Obey IGP’s Order To Leave Benin, Says Wike
- Edo CP: You Won’t Be Allowed To Move Freely In State
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike on Friday said he will not abandon his duty as the Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, National Campaign Council for the Edo guber election and leave the state.
Wike stated this while reacting to a telephone call he said he received from the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, asking him to leave Edo ahead of the election scheduled for Saturday.
Governor Wike spoke on Channels Television late Friday following an alarm raised by the PDP that security operatives including policemen, had laid siege to the hotel where Wike and some of his colleagues are lodging in Benin City ahead of the governorship election.
The Governor said the IGP had asked him to leave Benin because his presence may result in crisis ahead of the gubernatorial poll because of his utterances.
Wike, however, said he told the IGP that he will not leave Edo because some governors of APC and other chieftains of the party are also in the city.
He said, “I am not the only Governor here, the Governor of Imo State is here, Ganduje is here, the deputy Senate President is here. So, why should you tell me to leave? I said I will not leave.
“As the chairman of Campaign Council, we have to monitor what is going on and tomorrow, we go out and monitor what is going on. He cannot tell me that I must leave Edo State. It has not happened in this country. I don’t know where we are heading to. For IG to call a governor, to tell a Governor you must leave Edo State. It is the highest level of impunity.
“I am not going to vote, but we hold it as a duty as a party tell us monitor what is going on. I am here to do my assignment, I’m not here on campaign, the people must have made their minds on who they are going to vote for and who they will not vote for.
“But at the end of the day as the chairman of the Campaign Council, I should be able to write a report, say what I witnessed, and say what happened. Not for the IG to call me, a governor, that you must leave the state. I have not seen that kind of thing in my life.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, the Edo Commissioner of Police has warned Governor Wike, and his colleagues currently in Benin that they will not be allowed to freely move around the city.
The Police Commissioner said this on Channels Television while reacting to claims that security operatives had laid siege to the hotel where Wike and some of his colleagues are staying in Benin, late Friday.
Wike had claimed that he was in Benin to monitor the election and that he will move around later in the day to do so as the Chairman of the PDP National Campaign Council for Edo poll.
But the Kokumo said the Police will not allow anyone engage in such needless movement.
The Police Commissioner said, “The Police don’t need to lay siege on anyone, but the situation is no matter the status of the citizen, in Nigeria we will ensure that we do all within our capacity to create conducive atmosphere for free, fair and credible election.
“People having no business within Edo State cannot be moving from one point to the other.
“Movement is restricted. The restriction commences from 12 midnight to 1800 hours of tomorrow when we believe that election would have been concluded.
“So, movement is restricted, nobody is empowered to move about whether you are a governor or you are not.”
