RIVERS State governor, Nyesom Wike, has granted approval for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar to stage his campaign rally in the state.
This was sequel to a letter requesting granting of approval for use of venue made to the state government by the party.
It was feared that Atiku and his party may not stage campaign rallies in the state following the toxic stand-off between the state governor and PDP Presidential candidate.
News Point Nigeria recalled that Wike enacted Executive Order 21 in Rivers, which forbids all candidates of political parties from staging campaign rallies in homes and other unauthorised places. Such candidates are also required to apply for approval before embarking on any rally.
But the PDP revealed on Thursday that it has received approval from the state government for it to stage its presidential campaign rally contrary to earlier fears that the governor’s continuous fight against Atiku will prevent that.
In a telephone interview with News Point Nigeria Thursday, Ogbonna Nwuke, the Chairman of Publicity and Communications Committee of Rivers PDP Campaign Council said, the state government had acknowledged the receipt of N95 million in a letter of approval granted by the Commissioner for Education, Prof Chinedum Mmom, in compliance with the precautionary requirement of N5 million per public venue stipulated in Governor’s Executive Order 21.
Quoting the approval letter from Mmom, Nwuke added, “I hereby acknowledge receipt of your deposit of N95, 000,000 into the State Government’s account, being the required precautionary deposit for the use of your indicated public schools’ facilities in Rivers State.
“Sequel to your compliance with the directive as contained in our letter dated 6th December 2022, I hereby convey to you my approval of your request for the use of state-owned schools’ facilities as indicated in the annexure to your application.”
Nwuke then stressed that prior to this time, they have publicly indicated that as a responsible political party, PDP shall comply with the dictates of Executive Order 21.
“Now that we have received appropriate authorization, following full compliance with the order, we are prepared to commence open air campaigns in Rivers State.”
News Point Nigeria reports that in September 2022, the PDP had said they will not yield to the governor’s order compelling political parties to pay N5 million for use of the state public schools and sundry spaces for campaign rallies. The party stated that, they are ready to challenge the order legally.
