Wike Fires Back at Atiku, Obi Over Rivers LG Polls, Insists Election Was Legal

|By Chinwendu Nwani

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has hit back at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, dismissing their criticisms of the Rivers State local government election.

Both Atiku and Obi had branded the election unlawful, but Wike insisted on Monday that the exercise was conducted within the law and widely applauded for being free and fair.

“The court has not declared the Rivers State local government election illegal,” Wike told journalists during a media parley in Abuja.

Taking a swipe at Atiku, Wike argued that the former Vice President was ignorant of constitutional provisions on emergency rule.
“Listen, I don’t blame Atiku; he didn’t know that his boss signed the emergency rule in 2004. If he knew, if he was obedient and working along with his boss, who was President Olusegun Obasanjo, he would have known that the President has the power to make regulations for the governance of emergency areas,” Wike said.

He added, “So, he was not in tune. He doesn’t know. As I said, what you don’t know, don’t comment about it. If Atiku had comments about Customs, I know he has worked in Customs. I can give it to him, but this is law.”

Turning his criticism to Obi, Wike accused the former Anambra State governor of lacking the moral standing to fault the polls.
“Now take Peter Obi. He said rascality. Who can be more [of a] rascal than Obi? Obi was the governor of Anambra State for eight years. He conducted local government elections two months before he left office — eight years as governor.”

Wike’s remarks come amid rising political tensions over the legality and credibility of the local government polls in Rivers State.