'We just let a madman loose' - Ameachi fires Wike after 27 APC politicians were arrested in Rivers

Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has taken a swipe at Governor Nyesom Wike and the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu for the handling of the election processes.

Amaechi, who is a leading member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has questioned why a seating governor would order the arrest of members of the party in the state before and during the election.

He also accused the police hierarchy of carrying out the order of the state government as he noted that only the IGP and Commission of Police have the legal backing to call for the arrest of anyone in the country.

He spoke in an interview on Arise TV on Saturday, March 18 after Wike had called on security agencies to arrest and prosecute 27 politicians in the state for allegedly piloting to disrupt the governorship and House of Assembly elections with armed thugs, cultists, and gangsters in military and police uniforms.

This is as the state government has petitioned the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Army Staff and other relevant authorities not to release military personnel to former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi or any politician to interfere in the election process.

"They arrested Emeka Ideh, a House of Assembly candidate on the day of the election. The governor declared 27 persons wanted and he has no power whether constitutional or legal to declare anyone wanted. He is not the IG or Commissioner of Police."

"And police go about implementing and searching for and looking for these people just to distract us from our elections. So I wonder what you think that election will be. It’s a failure, a complete failure of the system and no one is speaking or asking the governor where he get this power from."

"We just let a madman loose on poor people and that causes apathy."

"In the Port Harcourt constituency, they were flogging voters who voted against PDP and at the close of voting they open the ballot boxes by themselves and tore ballot papers of APC and other political parties. Is that an election?"

Amaechi also called out INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu for his comment about the elections. Mahmood had said earlier that the February 25 election was like every other election filled with imperfections.

"Can Mahmoud tell the world that is how the election is conducted? In fact, he was so scornful that he said like every other election this is full of imperfections.

"It’s like a child who tells his father, look I failed because others have been failing but what is important is that he acknowledges that he failed"