The much talked about governorship electioneering campaigns in Rivers State is currently ongoing and all the candidates are jostling to get the best attention from the electorate who will eventually vote for their most preferred candidate as Executive Governor of Rivers State come 11th of March, 2023. There are currently visible governorship candidates such as peoples Democratic Party, PDP Siminialaye Fubara, All Progressives Congress APC Tonye Cole, Social Democratic Party SDP Senator Magnus Abe, National Rescue Movement NRM, Sobomabo Jackrich, Labour party LP Mrs. Beatrice Itubo, Dumo Lulu-Briggs of Accord A, Action Peoples Party, APP, Gbororgbosi Leesi, African Democratic Congress-ADC, Ibraye Tonte, and Somari Victor of Action Alliance AA, while Faye-Ofori Churchill is governorship candidate of Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Joseph Obele is the governorship candidate of African Action Congress, (AAC). Chief Sam Agwor is the New Nigeria Peoples Party-NNPP, Ms Sophia Cookey of Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, Victor Fingesi is of African Democratic Party (ADP) followed by Danagogo Wenike-Briggs of Young Progressives Party (YPP).
Among the candidates only three popular candidates are truly visible using direct contact with the grass root, presence via radio medium and outdoor billboard and secondary sources of presentation of free bus rides along major roads in the capital city of Port Harcourt while keeping in touch with rural people via town hall meetings, engagement with trade Unions, artisans and Farmers has brought out three political parties Accord, A, Social Democratic Party SDP and All Progressives Congress-APC as most serious Governorship candidates in Rivers State.
First, Accord Party Governorship Candidate Barrister Dumo Lulu-Briggs has his WE AGENDA, political campaign slogan while Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has Project SMA 2023 as his campaign slogan APC Governorship candidate Tonye Cole has TEAM COLE and using a political pressure group known as Rivers First initiatives RFI to get to the people.
For the back benchers such as the Peoples Democratic Party PDP with incumbent Governor Nyesom Ezebunwo Wike pushing the Governorship candidate Siminialaye Fubara whose battle with financial ombudsman Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC over N117B alleged fraud is haunting him as his outdoor presence with consultation in the grass root is almost not possible. Wherever you see Siminialaye Fubara you must also see the incumbent Governor Wike protecting him from suspected molestation by the ombudsman EFCC.
And the only time Siminialaye Fubara was seen going around the 23 Local Government Areas for Permanent Voters Cards Sensitization registration exercise. Apart from his outdoor billboard and posters he is a serious contender as the electorate are not sure of his being independent from his political godfather being the incumbent Governor Wike. Fear of not having grassroot support for his most preferred governorship candidate Siminialaye Fubara made the Rivers State governor to employ over 500,000 political assistants across the 319 electoral wards who he informed should bring five voters to cast vote for his governorship candidate knowing that the former approach electoral malpractice of writing Electoral results at INEC approved hotels owned by his party members no longer remain tenable. But how this tactics will go depends on the popularity currently gained by High Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs of Accord, Distinguished Senator Magnus Ngei Abe of Social Democratic Party, and Architect Pastor Tonye Dele Cole of All Progressives Congress-APC all frontline Rivers Governorship candidates in the 11th March, 2023 governorship election in Rivers State.
Other governorship candidates are afraid of the Executive Order 21 and 22 which Rivers State Governor signed introducing payment of N5m for the use school playgrounds and other public facilities for hosting political rallies throughout Rivers State. The Executive Order also made it mandatory that political parties should apply for approval within two weeks ahead of their planned political rallies without which they are not allowed to use such public facilities. In terms of popularity today Accord Governorship candidate High Chief Barrister Dumo Lulu-Briggs is using all within him to spread his good news using Radio broadcast and Town hall meetings and street campaigns, Free Bus rides, plus humanitarian services one of which include payment of undergraduate school fees at Rivers State University Port Harcourt who ordinarily were stopped from participating in examinations of the university except by paying their school fees which Accord Governorship candidate Dumo Lulu-Briggs approached the institution administrators and paid for the indigent students in bulk across board.
For Senator Magnus Abe, his ability to take his campaign to trade unions, artisans and traders at various towns in the state spreading his agenda for Rivers State should he be voted into office as executive Governor of Rivers State that he would accomplish such lofty stated objectives. With use of BVAS by Independent National Electoral Commission-INEC the surreptitious approach of writing electoral results from hotel rooms in the past now remains obsolete.
The stage is set for an upset in the coming governorship election in Rivers State as what the incumbent Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike planned for his preferred governorship candidate Siminialaye Joseph Fubara may be upturned by the popular votes of the electorate at the polls with BVAS electronic system put in place by Independent National Electoral Commission-INEC in the 2023 general elections.
-Emeka Amaefula
+234(0)8111813069
