By Tonye Isaac
Ahead of the governorship and state assemblies elections in Rivers state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have drifted into hate campaigns to win votes from the Igbo community in the state.
On Friday at a road project inauguration in Egbeda, Emohua Local Government Area (LGA), Governor Nyesom Wike told Igbos in Rivers to avoid APC in the March 18 election, alleging that a vote for Tonye Cole would impede his prosecution along with Rivers APC Leader and former transportation minister, Rotimi Amaechi for alleged $50Million fraud.
Wike’s allegations came days after Amaechi and Cole told a large gathering of Igbos in Rivers that Wike and his administration hate Igbos so much he refused to support an Igbo son for president and also destroyed Igbos shops and property to build flyovers in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor LGAs.
Accusing Amaechi of inciting hate between Rivers and the Igbo, Wike in his comments yesterday told Igbos in Rivers: “We have been living peacefully with our brothers and sisters; Ndi Igbos, living peacefully, doing business peacefully.
“I should let you know that a vote for Tonye Cole is a vote for the division of Rivers. A vote for Cole is a vote for him not to return our $50 million, and God will not allow us to vote for such people. We are prosecuting them (Cole, Amaechi). They want to run away from prosecution, but they cannot.
“To have a child (Chibuike Amaechi) who wants to destroy a home, to open up old wounds at this time in Nigeria, in Rivers is a terrible thing. He is trying to put us and the Igbos at loggerheads for us to fight, God will not allow us to fight.”
Wike alluded to what he described as double-faced political life of Amaechi in his disposition to Igbos, alleging that when Amaechi contested for the presidential ticket of his party, he claimed a different tribe and when he failed, rather than support Peter Obi or another southern candidate, he voted for a northern candidate in the presidential elections.
Addressing Igbos in Rivers at a Port Harcourt gathering two days earlier, Amaechi had said he made an Igbo man Commissioner, promoted two as Permanent Secretaries, employed 3000 as teachers, and gave scholarships to several others among other opportunities when he was Governor, adding that those privileges disappeared under Wike’s administration.
In his charge to Igbos in Rivers, Amaechi, said, “We cannot win without you. If you don’t come out that day we have lost. We need you to come out, need you to stand. We need you not to be afraid. If they burn your house or the shop, we will replace everything they destroy. Every kobo you lost will be given back.
“I’m an Igbo man from Ikwerre Local Government Area. I tell people, pray Igbos don’t come together. The day Igbos come together they have won Port Harcourt City, won Obio/Akpor Local Governments. We will continue to produce chairman till we are tired,” he added.
Cole, while knocking Wike before Igbos in Rivers told them, “You will not suffer, we will not harass you, will not destroy your business, will not pull down your shops to build bridges. We would rather build bridges to support your businesses and well-being when you vote us in.
“You have all come out to endorse me. You have come to say you will vote for APC. But it is not enough that you have endorsed me. We have two days to spread the message, make sure everyone you know comes out to vote on election day.
“Don’t entertain fear. Nobody will steal your vote. The military will be out to protect your votes. And anybody that interferes with your vote should choose between life and death,” he urged.
(Vanguard, except headline)
