Defeated Rivers State APC Governorship Candidate, Mr Dakuku Peterside is at it again. This time he has taken his desperation to Abuja, the Federal Capital. He has once again, exposed yet another reason why the people of Rivers State resolved that he lacks the credentials to govern the complex state in need of urgent development.
After heaping insults on members of the local government caretaker committees and lying against PDP members in the state, Dakuku Peterside flew to Abuja to do the unthinkable. Alongside renowned Nollywood Actor, Magnus Abe and other defeated APC candidates in the last general elections, they attempted to invade the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
All entreaties by security agents at the INEC headquarters fell on deaf ears as Dakuku Peterside and his co-travellers insisted on forcefully gaining entry into the premises for illegal reasons. When it became clear to the security agents that these desperate politicians were determined to cause chaos, they had to disperse them.
Since Dakuku Peterside lost the last governorship election in Rivers State, he has employed several illegal means to create confusion and throw the state into crisis. He has concocted all manner of lies to incite the people to violence and at different times personally led hired mobs to disrupt the peace of the state.
First, he lied that no governorship election took place. With state funds made available by his godfather, Dakuku hired media agents and fake election monitors to spread this falsehood. At that time, Dakuku claimed he had all the evidence and required data to prove that the elections were rigged.
Shortly after that lie, Dakuku Peterside led hired thugs from neighbouring states to storm INEC office in Port Harcourt. Indeed, he sat on bare floor, crying that the elections were rigged. He did not stop there. He hired thugs to protest at the state INEC office for days on end.
After they failed to stop Governor Wike’s swearing in, Dakuku stayed away for weeks only to surface with a concocted story that local government chairmen whose elections were nullified by the Federal High Court had been reinstated. His intention was to destabilise Rivers State, but the good people of the state refused to be incited.
Before this illegal action at INEC headquarters on Wednesday, Dakuku Peterside was in Rivers State where he spewed his usual falsehood against Governor Wike.
The desperate act of attempting to invade INEC headquarters over a matter before an Election Tribunal has beyond all reasonable doubts shown that Dakuku Peterside and Magnus Abe were roundly defeated. Pray, why would a politician who dragged the governor to the Election Tribunal invade INEC headquarters with the aim of trying to circumvent justice and perhaps manipulate facts?
For a man who had consistently lied that he had all the evidence to prosecute his petition, what would have led to this level of desperation?
If this event had happened in Rivers State, Dakuku Peterside and his co-travellers would have concocted another lie which would have been circulated by their media friends. These are the same people who dragged a security agency into the electoral dispute attempting to use force in their quest to coerce INEC to manipulate electoral materials.
This is desperation taken to lawless heights. The security agencies must not stop at dispersing Dakuku Peterside and his co-travellers. They must be investigated and prosecuted. No matter the state funds they expended in sponsoring the APC National elections, they cannot be above the law.
Dakuku Peterside has no pedigree of performance to challenge Governor Wike. He was trounced on April 11, 2015 despite being sponsored with state funds. All these tricks and desperation will amount to nothing.
Written by Simeon Nwakaudu.