Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has been accused of plotting vote buying by the Accord Party (AP) governorship candidate in Rivers State, Dumo Lulu-Briggs.
Wike’s recent appointment of 100,000 special advisers from various polling units in the state, according to Lulu-Briggs, was a vote-buying strategy, and he shouldn’t try to hide behind political appointments.
According to Track News, the Rivers State AP governorship candidate has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate what he claims is vote buying ahead of the 2023 general election.
He asked INEC to investigate the matter in accordance with the Electoral Act, which he claimed would give Rivers residents a fair chance to vote for candidates of their choice in the 2023 general election.
Lulu-Briggs, on the other hand, challenged Wike to be honest about the appointments and convert them to civil servant jobs in order to reduce poverty in the state rather than making political appointments with Rivers’ money.
“It is clear that the 100,000 special assistants and unit advisers across the 23 councils cannot be described as anything other than vote buying,” he said. You want to get your party off to a good start, and you’ve already paid money across the units.
“Paying a hundred thousand people with state funds is an added benefit.” This is not done. We should level the playing field. Allow the people of Rivers to select the man or woman they want to govern them. They deserve it because as a people, they have been through a lot.
“I believe the INEC should look into this.” And most likely sanction the PDP. They are clearly gaining an advantage. It is unfortunate if they do not have a popular candidate because it is their choice who to present. So, when you present someone, you should let the people of Rivers decide rather than giving yourself 100,000 votes before elections.”
