THE governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2015 election in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said on Tuesday that the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, had foreknowledge of the Supreme Court ruling before it was eventually delivered.
Peterside also accused Wike of promoting violence by making inciting comments.
He also claimed that while the Supreme Court ruling in favour of Wike was delivered at about 6.20pm, the Peoples Democratic Party and Wike’s supporters went into wild celebration around 9am.
The former APC governorship candidate, who made this remarks while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, explained that “credible information confirmed” that Wike confessed to some persons that he (Wike) met with some of the justices of the Supreme Court in Mbaise, Owerri, Dubai and Saudi Arabia respectively.
Peterside added that the governor had at a thanksgiving service in Port Harcourt claimed that a former governor of the state, Dr. Peter Odili and his wife, Justice Mary Odili, were his (Wike) advisers.
He described the ruling of the Supreme Court on the Rivers governorship election as a product of compromise and an orchestrated contrivance to legalise electoral violence and rigging.
“Credible information confirmed that Nyesom Wike had earlier confessed to some persons of having met one of the Justices of the Supreme Court in Mbaise during an important burial, another at Owerri in a hotel and yet others in Dubai and Saudi Arabia respectively.
“These Justices were in the panel that decided the matter in Wike’s favour. The most striking revelation by Nyesom Wike is contained in his account at the thanksgiving service last Sunday.
“He obviously stunned his audience and the watching world when he confessed that when it came to the Judges, Dr. Peter Odili and the wife, Justice Mary Odili (a Justice of the Supreme Court) were his advisers.
“It is therefore obvious that the decision of the Supreme Court on the Rivers State election was not a product of justice but rather a product of compromise and orchestrated contrivance to legalise electoral violence and rigging and, in turn, reward injustice. This calls for a serious introspection by our judiciary and judicial officers.
“For the records, in his speech at the church service, Gov. Nyesom Wike probably forgot that he was on live telecast when he stated, ‘Let me thank our former governor, Dr. Peter Odili (husband of Supreme Court Justice, Mary Odili). He will call me midnight to tell me what to do….he will say ‘go to so so place.’ I took all his advice, and here we are today.’
“This shocking confession needs no further explanation except for you and other decent Nigerians to further make your fair conclusions,” Peterside said.
On the alleged incitement by Wike, Peterside decried the governor’s threat to the lives of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission ahead of the state and National Assembly rerun elections.
He added that the governor exhibited unconscionable indiscretion by warning INEC officials would be treated like armed robbers if they attempted to rig the election.
Peterside, told Wike to stop insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.
Reacting, Wike dismissed Peterside’s allegations describing it as false, unsubstantiated and a campaign of calumny against the Supreme Court.
Wike, who spoke through the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr. Austin Tam-George, explained that Peterside’s utterances had shown that the APC governorship candidate in the 2015 election did not accept the Supreme Court’s verdict.
“There is nowhere in the allegations that Dr. Peterside substantiated his claims against Governor Wike.
“Even when the judgement did not go the way of Governor Wike, he (governor) never castigated the judiciary; he had continued to affirm his belief in the judiciary. This (Peterside’s allegation) is a full-blown campaign of calumny against the Supreme Court
“We reject the insinuation that Dr. Peter Odili’s advice to Wike had anything to do with the Supreme Court verdict.”
