Wike dedicates his victory to all those who lost their lives during the violence in Rivers State

GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has dedicated his recent victory in the recent gubernatorial elections to all those killed in the violence that prevailed during the polls when voters clashed with soldiers and armed hoodlums.

After the gubernatorial elections of March 9, in Rivers State, the issue remain unresolved as the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) suspended the collation of results there. More than any other state in Nigeria, Rivers witnessed extreme violence during the presidential and governorship elections with ballot box snatching, intimidation of voters, the firing of gunshots and clashes between the military and local communities.

Yesterday, however, after a month, Inec eventually began collating the results and announced the results, declaring Governor Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner. Professor Teddy Addia, the returning officer and deputy vice chancellor of Federal University, Otuoke, declared that Governor Wike polled 886,264 votes to defeat his closest rival Biokpomabo Awara of the African Action Congress (AAC), who got 173,809 votes.

Responding to his huge win, Governor Wike in a series of tweets on his official Twitter page, Governor Wike said: “I want to thank the people of Rivers State for showing the kind of love we have never seen before. I thank them for showing the kind of support we have never seen before

“Those who died did so not because they were criminals but because they wanted to defend their votes. We dedicate this victory to God those who were killed.

“They tried with their federal might but the superior might from above defeated them. I thanked Inec for working in line with the tenets of the electoral act and I thank the police.

“If anybody does anything contrary as a member of the House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, the blood of those who died will visit them. I will never betray PDP. Nobody won or lost but Rivers people won.

“We will not disappoint the PDP, we will not disappoint Rivers people and we shall continue to serve. We will run an inclusive government, which will accommodate all shades of interest.”

Since the results were announced, congratulations have been pouring in for Governor Wike from PDP members across the country. With the ruling All Progressives Congress not fielding a candidate, the party had opted to back Mr Amara of the AAC.