TELL Magazine

….Suspects Buhari not planning free and fair poll

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has insisted that the trial of the recaptured leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu should follow due process in accordance with the rule of law.The governor who spoke on Arise TV interview programme on Thursday, said efforts must be made by the Federal Government to allay the fears of some Nigerians that Kanu was not being prosecuted because of his ethnic background.He said that despite the differences he had with Nnamdi Kanu, he would be pleased to see him given a fair trial.

He said for the Federal Government to demonstrate its resolve to address the insecurity crisis facing the country, the same effort deployed to arrest Kanu should be extended to bandits and Miyetti Allah militias terrorizing the country.”We must not make hullabaloo about the prosecution of Nnamdi Kanu. I don’t agree with his principle. I have come out and said you (Kanu) cannot annex my State to be your own. But that does not mean that you’ll not allow the law to take its course,” Wike said.The governor insisted that the government must arrest every wanted terrorist on its watch list and ensure they are brought to book to face the full wrath of the law.”You cannot afford to discriminate at this point. You cannot say because Nnamdi Kanu is from a particular area, let us prosecute him. The same thing must apply to all other people, the bandits, Miyetti Allah,” he added.Speaking on the defection of some governors from the PDP to the APC, the governor said those who have defected were merely seeking protection from persecution and prosecution in the ruling party.He explained that none of the governors who defected from PDP had given any cogent reason to justify their defection.Wike justified the opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s decision to ask the court to declare vacant the office of Zamfara State governor, Bello Muhammad Matawalle, who defected to the APC a few days ago.He said he was hopeful that the National Working Committee of the PDP would take all necessary legal measures to protect the Zamfara State Deputy Governor, who refused to defect with Governor Matawalle.The governor expressed fears that President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to nominate his Special Assistant on Social Media, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie, as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was a clear signal that he would not guarantee free, fair and credible election in 2023.