Rivers rerun: Fayose raises alarm, says ‘Wike to be put under house arrest’

• Says ‘I’m going into seclusion Dec 14’

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State, on Tuesday raised the alarm over what he said was security threats to the coming rerun election in Rivers State and alleged that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State had been slated for house arrest before the election.

Fayose told newsmen in Ado Ekiti, after he had presented the state’s 2017 budget to the House of Assembly, that information at his disposal showed that there were plans by the federal authorities to keep his Rivers State counterpart restricted, allegedly from the night of Thursday until after the election scheduled for Saturday.

The governor said he would be going into seclusion from December 14, and pointed out that he would be “on a prayer mountain after which I will come up with predictions for 2017.”

According to him, “this is Apostle Ayo Fayose talking and you will recall that most of my predictions for this year 2016 came to pass.”

He said, “The security information, to the best of our knowledge, says Governor Wike is likely to be put under house arrest on the night of Thursday and if he resists, anything can happen to his life. We have our own way of gathering security information and relying on our information as the chief executive, our findings show that anything can happen to Wike.”

On what his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was doing about the alleged information, he said, “We have made it public and if anything happens to Wike, we know who to hold responsible. When you say armed robbers will come and robbers strike eventually, it means we know where it is coming from.

“I’m saying with all sense of seriousness, I’m making it public that there is a grand plan to put Governor Wike under house arrest between the late evening of Thursday and early hours of Friday. We also learnt that if he resists, anything can happen to him.

“I have said it several times that democracy is on trial in Nigeria. Democracy is being muzzled and it is clear by the actions of the Federal Government that by withdrawing the chief security officer (CSO) of Governor Wike. CSO is the man overseeing the security protecting the governor. When you take off the head, then you expose the main subject.

“So Wike is under threat; his life is under threat. Anything can happen to Wike this weekend. I’m saying this because I have my own intelligence and security gathering technique.”