Controversy has greeted a leaked audio
recording in which a voice bearing a striking similarity with that of
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, was heard admitting bribery and
threatening to kill electoral officers in the December 10 rerun
elections in Rivers State.
The All Progressives Congress on
Thursday said the leaked audio recording confirmed its worst
fears that
the elections were rigged.
It noted that revelations contained in
the said recording, made public by an online newspaper, Sahara
Reporters, on Thursday, provided evidence of alleged unwholesome
practices.
The party also said the audio recording
was a pointer to the fact that the governor might have compromised the
integrity of the electoral process and the integrity of his office as
Chief Security Officer.
This was contained in a statement signed by the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, in Abuja.
He said, “The leaked audio recording
showing the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, admitting to bribing
some electoral officials and threatening to kill them if his
instructions were not followed, has confirmed the fears raised by the
All Progressives Congress in the countdown to the recently conducted
December 10, 2016, legislative rerun elections in the State.
“Going by the revelations from the
leaked audio recording, it is obvious that Governor Wike might have
engaged in unwholesome conducts that might have compromised the
integrity of the electoral process and undermined his office as the
Chief Security Officer of a state.
“The only logical conclusion from this,
therefore, is that the electoral victories of the Peoples Democratic
Party might have been achieved through underhand dealings and
intimidation of officials.”
The statement recalled that the APC
alerted security agencies to reports of massive arm build-up and
sinister plots by Wike and the PDP.
It said, “On December 6, 2016, the APC
alerted security agencies to reports of a massive arms build-up and
other sinister plots that Wike and the PDP planned to execute on the day
of the legislative rerun elections in Rivers State.
“Nigerians have watched with grave
concern how the process of the just concluded legislative rerun
elections has led to the deaths of ordinary citizens in the state,
including security officers. The statement that Governor Wike appeared
to have made on the record has now pointed directly at where
responsibility should be placed for the violence that attended the
election.”
The APC also argued that the audio
recording provided evidence that the allegation by the Rivers State
Government and the Peoples Democratic Party of an assassination threat
on Wike and the allegation by Wike that APC governors funded violence in
the state during the election might have been deliberately contrived to
hide the role the governor played in the violence that attended the
election.
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