Dr.
Doyin Okupe, a former senior aide to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo of
Nigeria, Tuesday morning explained why he wanted Rivers state governor,
Nyesom Wike as well as Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi out of the
state in any subsequent election rerun exercise.
Okupe, who was
also Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to Jonathan had said
that Wike and Amaechi, who was the governor of the state, as well as
their loyalists be moved out because of the level of violence that
marred Saturday’s election rerun in Rivers into the state House of
Assembly and the National Assembly. He also demanded the prosecution
of all those involved in the violence that claimed up to 10 lives
including that of a member of the National Youth Service Corps.
But
Okupe’s suggestion did not go down well with some Nigerians who
condemned his position on social media, forcing the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) chieftain to clear the air on what his intentions were. “I
have seen and read many responses to my post on violence accompanying
our electoral process. This is the beautiful part of the social media.
It is interactive.
“It is interesting that most of the comments
have nothing to do with the killings and loss of lives involved in this
mayhem. It will appear that we have come to accept killings and thuggery
as part of our national life. “As Dele Giwa said: ‘nothing shocks us as Nigerians again’. But this ought not to be so.
“For
me, I was particularly overwhelmed by the killings and especially the
death of the innocent and young ‘youth corper’, just trying to serve his
country. I felt highly repulsed and too deeply pained.
“Regrettably,
I really did not consider the legal and moral implications of actually
moving a state governor out of the state. I truly never intended to
undermine the mandate of the rivers people freely given to Governor
Wike. I am truly sorry about that.
“My thoughts were mainly
focused on what we must do to avert this unnecessary and wanton
bloodshed and deaths following our elections nationwide,” he said in a
reaction to comments by some Nigerians to his earlier position.
Okupe
said he had watched the American presidential primaries in the various
states and caucuses and had never seen any police officer close to the
various venues even though there must be a winner and a loser.
“Nigeria and Nigerians must move away from this derogatory barbarism and move along with the rest of the civilized world. “If
the violence that marred our electoral process in 1966 is still very
prevalent in our elections in 2016, then there is something seriously
wrong with Nigeria and the way we are and the earlier we all address
this the better for us all,” he added.
In the earlier post, Okupe
had indicted Wike, who is his party man, Amaechi, a former ally and now
a member of the All Progressives Congress, the Independent National
Electoral Commission and the security agents for the level of violence
that scaled the election rerun.
He also demanded a stop to the use of NYSC members for elections especially in volatile areas of the country.
“All
principal participants must accept responsibility for this intolerable
acts of savagery. By all principals I mean the PDP, APC and their
leaderships, the INEC, and the entire gamut of our security agencies. “In 2016, the wanton destruction of lives and properties that accompany our elections in varying degrees is no longer excusable.
“The
frequent deaths of citizens, electoral officials, members of the
security forces has assumed highly barbaric proportions. Of particular
importance is the reported death of innocent Youth corpers.
“As a
Nigerian parent whose children will still go through this national
calling, I cease this opportunity to call on other Nigerian parents and
well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on INEC to stop with immediate effect
the deployment of our children for electoral services.
“We can no
longer bear the pain of losing our wards to mindless acts of
lawlessness by thugs and hooligans acting for and on behalf of reckless,
desperate and irresponsible politicians and power mongers.
INEC
stands accused in all this dastardly developments. Before going into an
election in any volatile area, they ought to obtain full security
reports of the area in question and also confer with the police and the
army to get written assurance that they can guarantee the security of
electoral materials and officers.
He wondered why INEC would
still be involved in the movement of electoral materials on election day
rather than do this two weeks before the election in company of
security agents.
He also suggested that in special volatile areas
like Rivers and others as to be advised by police and the intelligence
agencies, a minimum of five armed personnels per polling station with
availability of standby re-enforcement in each Local Government Area
should be considered.
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