Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, claimed that if President Muhammadu Buhari upholds his promise to refrain from interfering with the conduct of the general elections in 2023, the All Progressives Congress (APC) will be doomed.
When Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, the governor of Abia State, flagged off construction on the Igwuruta internal roads in the Ikwerre Local Government Area of the State on Wednesday, August 31, Wike made this statement.
He added that if Buhari doesn’t interfere in the 2023 elections, it meant that the President is serious about leaving an enduring legacy of conducting free and fair elections.
Wike said: “I thank Mr. President that he wants to leave a legacy of conducting a free and fair election.”
Wike recalled how the APC-led federal government through the immediate past Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, deployed the Nigerian Army to rig the 2019 general elections in Rivers State, but that the people resisted and thwarted their scheme.
He added: “Thank God Mr. President for saying that you will not interfere or intimidate anybody. That means your party has no way to win.”
Wike continued: “My problem is INEC, whether they will do what they said they will do. They are making promises now. I don’t know whether they will keep to it. If INEC will keep to the promises that Nigeria will get a better election, I will be so happy. Everybody will see with their eyes; Abuja does not vote. It is the people here that will vote.”