Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State, has urged the international community to act beyond being mere observers during the upcoming 2019 general elections.
Governor Wike said this when Ketil Carlson, the European Union Ambassador, alongside his team of EU observers for the elections visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state’s capital.
Addressing the EU team, the governor spoke against the backdrop of comments made by his Kaduna State counterpart, Nasir El-Rufai, who threatened that any foreign individual who attempted to meddle in the upcoming elections would leave in “body bags.”
Read Also: El-Rufai Issues Death Threat To Foreigners Who Intervene In Elections
He stated that the EU and other foreign observer missions ought to have outrightly condemned the comments of Governor El-Rufai, noting that it was one that could cause disaffection in the country.
He added that if foreign observers could be threatened, then there could be purported plans by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to silence all members of opposition parties.
“I thought that you people would have come up heavily to say, “to show we’re serious, we cannot accept this”.
“Not merely saying: ‘well, we will not be deterred by your threat.’
“Having made that statement alone is enough to cause a lot of disaffection and could even make people to pull out from the whole thing.
“If they could threaten foreign observers, then what would happen to those of us who are mere opposition.
“Which means they have planned how they will kill, for the sake that they want to remain in power.
“So I urge you and your partner to come out heavy on us.
“Not merely saying: “If you do anything that would compromise elections or cause violence, we will sanction you by withdrawing your visa,” Governor Wike said.
The Rivers State Governor noted that the statement by Governor El Rufai is an invitation to violence during the conduct of the elections and called for foreign intervention, claiming that the country lacks the security institutions to quell any impending chaos.
He, however, stated that the PDP is well prepared for the elections and would not be intimidated by threats from any quarters.
Governor Wike said: “What can be more violent than that kind of statement and that is why I said, you know where the crisis or where the problem is. We are handicapped, we have no security agencies to cause crisis, we don’t have the power.
“If we were not prepared for this election, probably we would have been talking about trying to instigate people to cause crisis. It’s not to our advantage. We are prepared for elections.
“When you use the word ‘observing’, it is not just mere observing.”
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