The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has threatened to force entry into the Yakubu Gowon Stadium in Port Harcourt after alleging that the Rivers State Government denied his political group access to the facility.
Gatekeepers News reports that Wike, a former governor of Rivers State, made the remarks on Friday during the inauguration of coordinators of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors across the 23 local government areas of the state.
“We applied to the Rivers State Government for the Yakubu Gowon Stadium. They refused us. But let me say, next time we will do this, if you don’t approve it, we will break it by force,” Wike said at the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic in Port Harcourt.
“So the coordinator of the state [Renewed Hope Ambassadors], write again to the state government. Choose a day, and we will inaugurate the ward level. I want to say to everybody to hear: enough is enough. We are all from Rivers State.
“Nobody can deny us the facilities of the state. If you don’t agree to give us, we will do the needful, and we take it by force. Heaven will never fall. Even when heaven falls, everywhere will be at peace.”
The minister urged his supporters to remain bold despite what he described as intimidation by the Rivers State Government.
“We must go and make sure this is inaugurated ward by ward, unit by unit, and we will take a date to make sure we inaugurate them. I have told the leadership of the party, the way they have done for local government, so we will do for the wards. We will provide vehicles for each of the wards.
“So nobody should be intimidated. We are here to support you. The members of various councils have agreed to make more commitments to make sure each ward gets a bus, to make sure the campaign for the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ is being realised,” he said.
Rivers govt denies allegation
The Rivers State Government has rejected Wike’s claims, describing them as false and misleading.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Honour Sirawoo, told journalists on Friday evening that the Yakubu Gowon Stadium is currently undergoing reconstruction and is unsafe for public use.
He said that given the level of ongoing work at the facility, no group has been granted access.
