Some political parties in Rivers State have dismissed the state governor, Nyesom Wike’s invocation of Order 21 which imposed a fee of N5 million on any political party seeking to use any public school in the state for campaign rallies.
Governor Wike on Friday, in a state-wide broadcast, reminded politicians and political parties of Executive Order 21 prohibiting the use of public school structures and premises for political rallies and imposed a few of N5 million for use of any public school for campaigns.
But parties like the All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP), and Action Alliance (AA) have condemned the imposition of the fee describing it as a ploy by Governor Wike to narrow the political space for other political parties especially the smaller ones from holding campaigns.
They argue that the governor is afraid of the level of opposition against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and is therefore looking for all manner of underhand schemes to gain undue advantage over the parties.
In his reaction, Darlington Nwauju, Publicity Secretary of the APC, described the Order 21 as “Strange Laws on Political Campaigns in Rivers State,” saying that it falls foul of the Electoral Act and the Nigerian Constitution.
He said in response to Nigerian Tribune: “We wish to draw the attention of the public to Section 91 of the 2022 Electoral Act which resonates with Section 40 of the Constitution. And in layman’s language states; ‘No political party in Nigeria can be prevented from holding rallies, processions or meetings. It is also the duty of the Commissioner of Police in each state to provide adequate security cover for such rallies or meetings and also in a consultative manner resolve any conflict of time and venue amongst the political parties.”
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He thus declared that “no state government can amend any section of the Electoral Act by issuing decrees that are strange to the Electoral Act. The INEC Chairman recently warned state governments against using the power of incumbency to intimidate opponents.”
He asked: “Will the PDP in Rivers State pay the cautionary fee of N5 million naira and write applications two weeks ahead of time before it uses any public school for rallies?
“We suspect that there is a grand plot to deploy all sorts of underhand tactics to intimidate political opponents in the state; narrow the political space, hush every voice of reason and turn all known democratic ethos upside down.
“We ask again does this move by the state government not completely make nonsense of the recently signed peace accord?”
On his part Dienye People, Chairman Labour Party, LP said: “I see it as a way of depriving the other parties of campaigning, that is the way I see it. Why ask people to pay N5 million for facilities built with taxpayers’ money?
“It is unfair and you know most of these other smaller parties don’t have those resources, indirectly you are telling them not to use the facilities. And it is obvious that that is the only one available to them because in the rural areas you don’t have event centres like that you can use. It is only few that is available.
“Previous governments understood that and allowed people to use the facilities, now Wike’s government is trying to deprive people of campaigning. Perhaps they are afraid of the force that is coming against them, especially the Labour Party so they are afraid. That is the only reason.”
He said that the party would not take it lying low but would make enough noise and get relevant authorities to intervene and have the Order set aside.
“We will make noise about it as we are doing already, petition the INEC, the Commissioner of Police and all that, so they can intervene, perhaps get the governor to review his decision,” Pepple stated.
In his own reaction, Bekee Anyalebechi Media Aide to Dawari George the Governorship Candidate of the Action Alliance stated that his principal was not perturbed by the fee because his mode of campaign is far ahead of what Wike thinks is the best way for parties to canvas for votes. “That’s why he is not bothered and will never be bothered.”
“His campaign is clinical in the sense that he will approach individual voters in Rivers state. He doesn’t need to rent a stadium or a school. He plans to use coordinators in all the local government areas in Rivers state. Dawari has followers who cut across party Iines. So it is not him having to go to the people one by one but he will do it through his coordinators.
“So simultaneously Dawari will be reaching out to people across the 23 local government areas and the 24th one which is the non-indigenes. So he doesn’t need going to bring people because these other parties, why they think they would need large arena is because they are renting people.”
Anyalebechi added that the AA Governorship candidate does not rent any person. “All the people working for him are volunteers. So people may think he doesn’t have the time but by the number of people who are working for him, he is reaching out to every strata of Rivers society of voting age.
“So he is not bothered about the N5 million, in fact, he won’t pay shi shi into any government coffers. His idea of the fee is that it is a clamp down on other parties because to him campaigning only ends in bringing people to a location and paying them one naira. To him (Wike) that is what stands as campaign for election.
“But the campaign for Dawari George has moved from analogue to digital, where you make telephone calls to prospective voters and call people and campaign to them and then your men move into the field to meet them one on one. That is the style he is going to introduce this time around and it’s going to shock people.”
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