Buhari Will Defeat Jonathan, Amaechi Boasts

AHEAD of the general elections in February, the Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has expressed the confidence that Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, will defeat President Goodluck Jonathan. Amaechi also said that the APC in Rivers State would win in the governorship, state and National Assembly elections. The governor, who spoke on Wednesday at the APC rally at Abua Central in the Abua/Odual Local Government Area of the state, described Rivers as a satellite Nigeria, adding that the people of the state had always dictated the voting pattern of other Nigerians. Represented at the event by his deputy, Mr. Tele Ikuru, the governor recalled how Rivers had been following the voting pattern of other parts of the country since 1962 to date, adding that 2015 would not be different. He said, “Rivers State is a satellite Nigeria. Whatever happens in Rivers State is what will happen in Nigeria. In 1962, Rivers State voted for the NPC (Northern Peoples Congress), and the NPC won in the state and at the national level. “In the second republic, we voted for the NPN (National Party of Nigeria) and NPN won the election in Rivers State and the national level. In 1999, Rivers State voted for the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) and PDP won in the state and the national level. “In 2015, Rivers State will vote for the APC and APC will rule the state and at the national level. Any direction the state votes are the direction Nigeria will vote.” The APC governorship candidate in Rivers, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, alleged that the PDP was plotting to rig the general elections in the state. Peterside called on the people of the state not to succumb to overtures and tricks of moneybags from the PDP, who might want to buy their votes. He pledged to run a transparent government and improve infrastructural development in the Abua/Odual Local Government Area and the state as a whole if he is elected as the governor. Reacting to the allegation that the state PDP was planning to rig the general elections in Rivers, the State Assistant Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, described Peterside’s allegation as false. “If Dakuku Peterside could make such a false allegation, it is a sign that he has lost the election and it is a welcome development. The truth is that the PDP is not planning to rig any election because we do not need to do that to win the 2015 election,” he said.