A Niger Delta activist, Ankkio Briggs, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will not win the 2019 presidential elections in the Niger Delta region.
Briggs claimed that the people will vote overwhelmingly in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mrs Briggs in an interview with The Sun, explained that the region did not vote for Buhari in 2015 and claimed the same will play out again in 2019.
She noted that the situation has gotten worse and that the All Progressives Congress should not expect to win in the south south.
According to her: “In the election that brought Buhari in, the South-South voted overwhelmingly for PDP. So, what has changed? Their situation is worse in 2018 going into 2019 in the areas of the economy, security, political inclusiveness, injustice, human rights abuse and all of that.
“The situation is worse now than it ever has been in Nigeria. The situation is worse now than in 2015 when Buhari came to power. So, what makes you think that for some reasons people will wake up in 2019 and all of a sudden Buhari will win elections in Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states?
“Buhari is not going to win elections in the Niger Delta. Anybody that counts votes and claims that Buhari has won election here is looking for trouble because it’s not possible. He can never win elections here.
“I am not saying that some South-South people are not working for him. There are misguided South-South people that are working for Buhari. But their misguided-ness is not enough to win elections for Buhari here.
“One or two people will vote for Buhari, but he will not win in the South-South. That is why we are seriously concerned that they are going to foment violence; that’s the way they are going. They are going to rig the elections. The election is not going to be free and fair.
“On the governorship election, I can tell you, for instance, that there is no way Governor Wike will lose any election in River State. You can quote me. It is impossible for Wike to lose elections in River State. Even if my father wakes up from his grave and stands election against Wike next year, he will not win.
“So, any attempt to claim that Wike lost election in Rivers is an attempt to destabilise the state. That’s why we are cautioning that the elections must be free and fair. People must be allowed to vote for whomever they want. So, we are worried about the violence they want to perpetrate. But we will not accept any result that is contrary to the will of the people.”
Ankkio Briggs also stated that less people will vote for Buhari and the APC in 2019 than they did in 2015.
She said: “The trend has not changed. All of these things are manipulations and mago-mago. The trend has not changed one bit and will not change.
“Rivers people know what they want; they will not vote for the APC governorship candidate and definitely they will not vote for Buhari.
“Now, when you talk about senators, even if a senator is an APC senator, it would not make Buhari to win an election. People can vote for their candidates in any party they are and then refuse to vote for Buhari, which was what happened in 2015.
“And Buhari himself said it, that we are the five per cent that didn’t vote for him.
“This time, I can assure you that less people will vote for him. And even if all the three senators from Rivers State are in APC, don’t forget that there is carpet crossing and you never know what will happen tomorrow.
“Secondly, these are Rivers sons and daughters and elections are coming up. It is still the same people that will vote. So, the fact that the three senators from Rivers are now in APC does not mean that they will remain in APC. It does not mean that Rivers people will retain them. And even if they retain them, so what? It does not mean that Buhari will win, because voting for Buhari and voting for a senatorial candidate are two different things. You are voting for a senatorial candidate for a different reason and a presidential also for a different reason.”
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