Inspector-General of Nigeria Police Orders Governor Wike to Leave Edo State on the Eve of Last Weekend’s Gubernatorial Election

This YouTube video is an audio recording of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Nigeria. The governor, as the Chairman of the Campaign Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP), was in Benin City to monitor the Edo State’s off-season gubernatorial election held on September 19, 2020. Governor Wike was surprised when he received a phone call from the Inspector-General of Nigeria Police ordering the former to leave Edo State immediately.

When Wike asked the Police boss the reason for such an order, the governor was referred to “inflammatory” statements he supposedly made which could threaten the security of the election scheduled the next day. Governor Wike clearly recollects that all he spoke about publicly had to do with securing the ballot boxes after voting to ensure proper collation of poll results. He was in Edo State on official duty for his party and not to campaign for any candidates in the election. He also noted that the governors of Kano and Imo states, Ganduje and Uzodinma, respectively and other senior officers of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were in the same Benin and wondered why he must be earmarked to leave town.

It is noteworthy that the Police Chief’s response to Governor Wike conveyed the notion that the security of all Nigeria is controlled from Abuja. The IG Police dialed up the pressure to outright intimidation of the Rivers State Governor when, within ten minutes of the phone call, 300 armed troops were dispatched to surround the hotel where Wike lodged. Governor Wike, as governor, is the Chief Security Officer of Rivers State. Within his jurisdiction in Rivers State, the security outfit takes orders from Governor Wike. At least, that is what the constitution says. The same constitution makes it possible for Governor Wike to be placed under “arrest” just because he is visiting a neighboring state on official duty for his political party.

The problem with the fraudulent 1999 Constitution is that it imposes a Unitary government over a supposed Nigerian “federation”. This miscue is deliberate. It was provided for by the writers of the 1999 Constitution who, in their infinite wisdom, decided to include 68 items in the Federal Exclusive Legislative list. This means that there are 68 items affecting the daily lives of Nigerians which can only be deliberated upon in the Abuja National Assembly and nowhere else. In this list are included the Police, railways, seaports, inland waterways, minerals, power, roads ….. It is because of this list in the 1999 Constitution that the duly elected Chief Security Officer of Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Wike, can be surrounded with hostile armed policemen complying with an order from Abuja.

A constitutional Force Majeure shall soon be invoked by Southern and Middle Belt Constituents who now blame the imposed fraudulent 1999 Constitution as the sole cause of all the woes of today’s Unitary Nigeria. The force majeure is designed to take down the disputed constitution and bring about a transition to a more equitable future.

By rank and official protocol, the governor is head and shoulder above the IG Police. The IG Police must, therefore, show respect when interacting with a governor. But that was not what happened here. The IG Police could not have been acting on his own; otherwise, he would be putting his career at great risk. The IG must have been encouraged by his backers in high places. This is what Governor Wike tried to express with many gestures of dismay.

But many are not too surprised because they understand the full implications of the imposed fraudulent 1999 Constitution in foisting Unitary governance mantra that suits the designs of the Sokoto Islamic Caliphate. Constituent stakeholders in the South and Middle Belt have reiterated their rejection of any more national elections based on the widely disputed 1999 Constitution. A Constitutional Force Majeure to pull down the 1999 Constitution is imminent. The sooner we can bring down the imposed fraud called the 1999 Constitution, the surer we shall become that what happen to Governor Wike in Benin hotel shall never happen again.