Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has defended the legality of the recently conducted local government elections in Rivers State, stressing that misinformation and poor research by the media have distorted public understanding of the process.
“First of all, let me comment about the elections. This morning, I sat down, I watched a comment on a particular channel. On Saturday, before I went to vote. The problem we have in this country is misinformation,” Wike said during a media parley.
He added: “It’s not my fault that you refuse to do your work. If you want to go to this area, you have to be a researcher. You have to be adequately informed, so that when you are asking questions, you are confronting people with facts. Sometimes it gives me an imagination when I see people on television, thinking they have done their investigative job. I discovered that zero.”
Responding to claims that the elections were illegal under emergency rule, Wike argued that the constitution empowers the President to suspend or modify provisions of the law to ensure governance continues.
“Have you read about the Emergency Powers Act of 2004 that was signed by President Olusegun Obasanjo? What does it say? The President has power to suspend or modify subsections of the law under emergency rule. Under the emergency rule, we can make regulations for the governance of the emergency areas,” he explained.
He continued: “Some people say the Electoral Act said 90 days, 150 days. They forget that the President has power to suspend some sections, which he did by the regulation he made. And why should it be that each time, you are not a lawyer, you are not a judge, but you make yourself a judge to interpret the constitution? Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.”
The Minister said the elections were necessary to enable local governments to access funds from the Federation Account, stressing that failure to conduct them would have created deeper crises.
“If this election is not conducted, and then the governor comes in, the state legislature comes in, how will local government access funds? When there is no democratically elected government, how will they access funds for the Federation Account? How will civil servants be paid? You will have crisis, and the President had to look and, by the regulations he made, conduct the election,” Wike said.
Boluwatife Enome
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