Politics
2023: Drums of war in Rivers State
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, politicians are preparing for the polls as if they are getting ready for war. Already, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has declared fellow party man and his sworn political rival, Farah Dagogo, wanted for allegedly hiring thugs to attack the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Port Harcourt.
But Dagogo, a federal lawmaker and PDP governorship aspirant, says it is the governor who has plans to run all his critics out of town or get them locked up before the primary election of the ruling party. Allegations and counter allegations continue to fly around even as threats of more violence create anxiety across the state.
“The police must as a matter of urgency arrest Farah Dagogo, wherever he is, and must be made to face prosecution,” Kelvin Ebiri, spokesperson to Wike, said in a statement last Wednesday.
Ebiri said Dagogo hired cultists who stormed the party secretariat and disrupted the screening of aspirants. He said the police had arrested some suspects in connection with the incident.
Dagogo, however, said that it is Wike who wants to prevent him from appearing before the PDP screening panel at all cost. The lawmaker’s response was contained in a statement posted on Facebook by his spokesperson, Ibrahim Lawal.
While Wike continues to shout his orders to the Police to arrest Dagogo, the lawmaker wants Efeturi Irikefe, whom he described as the “Camp Commandment” to Wike, arrested, disrupting the screening by ordering police officers to shoot indiscriminately. This is just as supporters of the two gladiators are threatening fire and brimstone on a daily basis.
All of this is just in one party. In APC, there are rumblings over the adoption of a consensus candidate, setting the state for fresh intra-party conflict. Whichever way you look, the drums of war are rumbling.