The Rivers state government has closed the Rivers State office and campaign headquarters Atiku/Okowa as part of his new offensive against political opponent citing Executive Orders 21 and 22, and the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign was not spared.
The office, which is located in Port Harcourt’s GRA axis, was shut down for causing loud political activities in residential neighborhoods without the state government’s consent and closed off the campaign office.
Recall that the Rivers branch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council had submitted a written request for permission to conduct political activities on the property. Before the venue was sealed on Friday, the application had gone unanswered for months.
The Atiku/Okowa PCC’s media team says, The sealing of its office was deemed anti-democratic and a breach of free speech by the state’s government. In a statetement issued to the press, it said:-
“The public is hereby informed that the sealed premises had no bill board or poster, since the approval had not been given, yet it was sealed off, a sign that the delay in the approval is premeditated and computed to cause this sort of unlawfulness.
“We condemn this act because it rubs off on our fundamental right to free expression of interest. Furthermore, this egregious move by the Rivers State Government, seen in the prism of politics, tends to militarize our democracy and renders our dear state politically recessive when juxtaposed with other states in the country,” the media team said in a statement.
It also advised the state’s party leaders to file a lawsuit in accordance with the constitution’s requirements.“We urge our dear leaders in the state to challenge this illegality in a court of competent jurisdiction so that friction can disappear from our political space.
“The right to campaign for preferred candidate is enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria, which is the grand norm from which every other law derives its power.
“Thus, every clash between the Constitution and any other made law should be resolved in favour of the Constitution. The Rivers State Government, we dare say, is subject to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as Amended).
“It is our duty to remind Gov. Wike and his co-travelers that they, like everyone else, are subject to the Laws of Nigeria.
“Meanwhile we charge the Rivers State PDP PCC, our dear leaders, to see to it that this unlawful disruption of campaign activities does not rattle their cage. They must continue to function as they always had prior to the existence of the Secretariat.
“Tyranny will expire in our state. If the Nazi Regime could die in Germany, then this facsimile of such will die even much faster to the glory of God and liberty of Rivers State,”
it added.