From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Government has petitioned 50 world governments demanding global surveillance, ahead of the rerun polls scheduled for Saturday to ensure a free, fair and credible election.
The petition, which was signed by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George, and sent to embassies, reads in part: “I write on behalf of the government and people of Rivers State, Nigeria, to inform you respectfully, of the imminent danger posed to the peace and stability of Rivers State, by the actions and provocative utterances of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
The commissioner accused APC leaders in the state of resorting to “intimidatory tactics and openly inciting violence against members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and anyone who holds a different political perspective in the state.”
The state government expressed disappointment that repeated appeals to President Muhammadu Buhari to call Rotimi Amaechi to order went unheeded, and warned that the eruption of violence in a state like Rivers, with “multi ethnic fault lines could cripple Nigeria’s ailing economy, and reverberate across the country’s borders.”