NYESOM Wike, the Governor of Rivers State says he received a call from Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector-General of Police on the eve of the Edo State governorship election that he should leave the state.
The governor said this when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Friday speaking on ‘Governance and State of Polity’.
“The IG never saw me outside. I was inside my room and I got a call from the IG that I must leave Edo State,” Wike said.
“What surprised me was why should I leave Edo State? I am the chairman of the campaign council and the chairman does not mean that after the campaign, you leave. No, you must monitor what is going on so that at the end of the day, you would be able to write your report.”
According to the governor, the IGP’s order was not connected with the Edo State election rather it had to do with alleged illegal deductions from Rivers State Police Fund.
“I discovered that the IG’s own had nothing to do with the election because I remembered that some time ago my Commissioner returned to me from a FAAC meeting and said there were deductions made from the Police Trust Fund.
“I asked who approved it because the police are under the exclusive list and not the concurrent list. I told my Attorney-General to challenge it. This angered the IG,” Wike explained.
He added that the IGP was also angry with him for obstructing the arrest of Joi Nunieh, a former acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
“When our sister, Joi Nunieh, was to be abducted, IG was not happy about my intervention. He called me and I asked him how could you allow a woman to be taken away at 4 am knowing the security situation in the country today. Why didn’t you invite her?” he asked.
Wike noted that the US and UK visa ban served as a major influence in the smooth running of the Edo governorship election on September 19.
“One thing that played out and which I noticed was the role of the international community. For example, the US, the UK came out and said that there would be a visa ban if anybody tries anything in terms of violence or rigging and they have gone further to ban some governors,” he said.
“Everybody was being careful, saying, I don’t want to have any problem, I don’t want my children and family to have any problem. We all go to the UK every time.”
“In fact, they should even go further, not only politicians, but security agencies, then you’ll see everybody will sit up and say look, I cannot jeopardise the future of my children and mine, simply because you want me to rig the election, so it’s very key.”
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94