The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lacked the capacity to conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2019.
The Governor warned Nigerians not to be deceived by the statements usually released by the INEC.
He spoke at the Government House Port Harcourt on Thursday when he granted audience to the Senate Committee on INEC.
He said: “Let’s not deceive ourselves; INEC is not prepared for credible elections. If there is an agency that is not prepared for 2019, it is INEC. I have no confidence in INEC. There is no amount of INEC’s preparation will convince me.
“INEC chooses how it interprets laws to suit those they support. They choose the court orders to obey and the ones to disregard. In one state where it favours a particular, they obey. In another state, INEC will claim they are yet to see judgments not in favour of the party they support.”
He said in 2019, any attempt by INEC to negatively manipulate the will of the people will be resisted.
“In 2019, whoever wants to manipulate the process to destroy the outcome, the people will come after that person and the family.
“We will not agree that for anybody to rig elections here in Rivers State. Nobody will do anything contrary to the will of the people “, he said.
The Governor said that the National Assembly has budgeted money for INEC for them to squander, but not for the conduct of credible elections.
He said that INEC and Police are two institutions that impede the conduct of credible elections in the country.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Suleiman Nazif said that the committee was in the state to carry out assessments on the preparedness of the commission for the conduct of credible elections in 2019.
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