‘Painful’- Atiku Cancels Rivers Rally As Predicted By THE WHISTLER

The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has cancelled his campaign rally for Rivers State, saying it’s a painful decision taken to avoid bloodletting.

THE WHISTLER had predicted in a previous report that the PDP presidential candidate may not stage any rally in Rivers State.

The paper had reported that following intractable schism in the PDP that led to the creation of the G-5 Governors, the Rivers State helmsman, enacted Order 22 which banned the use of premises, buildings and sundry structures in residential areas as campaign offices by political parties in the state, without government approval, with effect from November 11, 2022.

The Executive Order 22 prohibits posting of bills, posters or related materials in unauthorised places.

Consequently, Atiku’s posters and banners were not allowed in the state while his Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, in the state as led by former Minister of Transportation, Abiye Sekibo, began to be hounded and stopped from holding rallies for the former Vice President.

While the PDPPCC paid for the state-owned Adoki Amasiaemeka Stadium in Ikwerre LGA and was granted approval, Wike later revoked the approval even as state PCC members came under reported physical attack.

Citing insecurity that the lives of his members would not be safe, the PDP Candidate announced on Monday that his presidential rally which was billed for February 11 and was cancelled would no longer hold.

A statement issued by Lee Maeba, for Rivers State PDPPCC cited possible violence as reason for the cancellation, noting that, “The expected victory of Atiku Abubakar does not worth the blood of any Rivers man or woman.

“It is therefore instructive to note that this directive has direction in the vituperation of overt act of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.

“In this instance, he has openly branded members of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council and all supporters of the presidential candidate as enemies of the state and vowed to crush them. Video evidence are abound to support our assertion.

“He boasted that the two armed robbers, Dr. Abiye Sekibo and Senator Lee Maeba were chased away when they came to take a land belonging to the Rivers State government and they are lucky they ran away before his arrival at the scene.

“He tried to make an unimpressive denial which does not hold water the next day.

“In the light of the above submission, we the state campaign council, in total constructive engagement with the National Presidential Campaign Council, the candidate and the party, haven seen and evaluated the bodily harm and potential death threats, believe that no loss of life can be tolerated, accepted before, during and after the presidential election and agree with our principals on the need to shelve and or cancel the rally to avoid any death because the victory of Atiku Abubakar does not deserve spilling of the blood of even one citizen of Rivers State.

“This may be painful, but is the best decision to take as no human death can be excused on the insistence of hosting a rally due to the brigandage which the security agencies have not been able to break in and restore confidence, security wise, on the populace and our members,” Maeba said.