Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has called for the review of the revenue sharing formula.
While speaking during a Courtesy Visit by the Political Team from the British High Commission at the Government House Port Harcourt on Tuesday, argued that the federal government has lesser responsibility but takes all the money.
According to him, State Police is key to tackling insecurity across the country, adding that “Before the implementation of State Police, the revenue sharing formula of the country must be reviewed. The Federal Government should have less resources because they have lesser responsibilities “, he said.
He blamed the major challenges which characterised the 2019 General Elections on the inability of President Muhammadu Buhari to assented to the amended Electoral Act.
Wike noted, however, that had the card reader been given legal teeth, it would have played a key role in the results that would emerge and discourage violence, stressing that the amended Electoral Act will legitimise the card reader and strengthen the process of result Collation.
According to him: “If the President had assented to the amended Electoral Act, we wouldn’t have had the kind of problem we had.
“That means that there must be card reader in the Electoral Process. In that case, it makes it difficult for security agencies who want to commit electoral fraud to succeed”.
“With the card reader, results that don’t tally with accredited figures in the device will not be accepted. Since the card reader is not in the law, it creates the loopholes for them to manipulate.
“They created the room where some security agencies tried to force Returning Officers to sign result sheets. Remember in Rivers State, the Army took over the INEC Headquarters. The essence of that was to see that the Returning Officers were hijacked for fraudulent purposes.
“But if the card reader was legitimised in the Electoral Act, it would not have been possible, because the only acceptable result would be the one that tallies with the Card Reader. I have always said to Mr President that in the interest of the country, let us do the right thing. Let us not politicise everything “, he said
While saying that the amended Electoral Act when signed into law will restore confidence in the Electoral System, Governor Wike called for the de-militarization of the nation’s democracy.
He said: “We should reduce the militarisation during elections. It is unfortunate that instead of Police, the Army takes over our elections, with flimsy excuses.
“What happened in Rivers State is an eye-opener. Bringing in the Army everytime is not the solution. The police should be allowed to do their job. INEC should be truly independent.
“In the case of Rivers State, we must commend INEC for being assertive. If they were not assertive, I don’t know where we would have been “.
He reiterated his stance that oil bunkering is sustained by security agents, stressing that “Security agencies are involved in oil bunkering. That is why you see so many security agents struggling to be posted to the Niger Delta. Oil bunkering has negatively affected our security and environment”, he said.
