GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has said there cannot be free, fair and credible elections in 2019, unless the police change their operational mentality.
He said on Tuesday when he granted audience to the Rivers State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
The governor, in a statement on Tuesday by his media aide, Simeon Nwakaudu, also said the current Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, believed that he can only retain his office if he rigs for the governing party.
He also berated NYSC for allegedly deliberately refusing to make public the mass abductions of corps members during the December 10, 2016 rerun election in the state.
The governor said: “Nigeria cannot conduct free and fair elections, if police do not change their attitude.
“With the present Inspector-General of Police, we cannot have free and fair elections. The IGP believes that he can only retain his position, if he rigs elections and help to deliver a particular party”.
He said Rivers people knew the modus operandi of the police and other security agencies, pointing out that the rigging that took place during the rerun election would never happen again.
He regretted that the Nigerian Police have condescended to the abysmal level of allegedly plotting blackmail schemes against Rivers State and its people.
The governor however announced that the state would construct a new state secretariat for the NYSC to be named after the youth corps, Okonta Dumebi, who was killed during the inconclusive rerun election held in the state in March 2016.
He gave a directive on the implementation of improved allowances for corps members by his administration and also announced the donation of a bus to NYSC and an expansion of facilities at the NYSC Permanent Orientation in the state.
Earlier, the state coordinator of NYSC, Omotayo Adewoye, appreciated the governor’s support for the scheme, saying the governor had impacted positively on the activities of the scheme.
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