Governor Wike blasts APC on plan to regulate social media

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike discloses that it is hypocritical for ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to consider banning or regulating social media after utilising it to deceive Nigerians to attain power.

Wike maintained that the APC-led government has failed woefully and wants to use its dispute with Twitter as a false basis to subdue criticism of the government’s terrible handling of the affairs of the country via the dubious social media regulation.

The Governor made this known during the inaugural ceremony of nine reconstructed streets, which include Nzimiro, Herbert Macaulay, Amassoma, Arochukwu, Atako, Ogoja, Akure, Yola and Chinwo in Old Government Residential Area of Port Harcourt on Thursday night.

Wike in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri on Friday morning stated that APC, having been ridiculed on social networks, is desperate to squash the freedom of expression of Nigerians.

He said, “You have misled the country. You told us lies through social media. The same social media that you used to take over government, the same social media you want to regulate and ban. The same social media you used to tell Nigerians lies of how former President Goodluck Jonathan did not do this, how PDP did not do that.

“Now, you want the same social media to be regulated. You don’t want freedom of speech. Now, you want to gag them. Did anybody gag you when you were using them?”

The Governor declared that the abduction of lots of students at Federal Government Girls College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State on Thursday, is more proof of APC’s complete incompetence to ensure the safety of lives and property of citizens of Nigeria.

As indicated by him, Nigerians are anxious for the APC to vacate power and allow the more experienced PDP to once again restore stability in the policy and dignity of the country.

He said, “You wake every morning to hear 20 people have been kidnapped; 30 people have been kidnapped and people are telling us to keep quiet. Is it when they have kidnapped your own daughter?”

Governor Wike also criticised the Presidency for slamming PDP governors who called for transparency and accountability in the way the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is managed, and that the APC-led government should be active to its constitutional obligation to protect lives and property.

He said, “In Kebbi, 40 to 50 girls have been kidnapped, our young daughters. And then you are telling me we (PDP) have not proffered solution. Which solution are you talking about? The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is the president that appoints all the security heads in this country.

“No Governor has the power or any role to appoint even a Commissioner of Police. And then you are telling me that we have not proffered any solution. What solution do you want us to proffer? When you have taken your oath of office that you are going to guarantee the lives and property of Nigerians?”

The Governor stated that even President Buhari during his recent television interview, declared to Nigerians that he has nothing left to offer the nation in terms of good governance.

He said, “The President spoke to us the other day and Nigerians were happy the way he spoke to them, he told them the truth. And the truth is that whether you like it or not, I have nothing again to offer and that was the truth. And people must agree to that.”

The Governor disclosed that his government has deliberately commenced a huge urban renewal drive meant to restore the Garden City status of Port Harcourt.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Senator Walid Jubril, who inaugurated the nine streets, lauded Governor Wike for transforming Port Harcourt, with the end goal that even the visually impaired can confirm it.

Senator Jubril declared that the entire board of trustees of the PDP was proud of Governor Wike’s steadfast commitment to the party, stating that PDP loyalists across the nation are impressed with the governor’s outstanding achievements and leadership.

Jubril said, “Anybody from this state who is trying to go astray, I am not with him. I am with the people of this state and I will remain with you (Wike).”