Politics
Wike Inaugurates Medical Facilities At Bayelsa State Medical University
By: Beemene Tanee
Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, as a special guest of his Bayelsa State counterpart, Senator Dounye Diri ,on Saturday, inaugurated some facilities at the Bayelsa State Medical University at Yenegoa the state capital.
Performing the inauguration, Governor Wike commended the Bayelsa State Governor for his efforts in providing critical infrastructure in the state and pointed out that such feat was the trade mark of Governors of the People’s Democratic Party.
He took a swipe at Governors of the ruling All Progressive Party which he noted were fond of giving excuses for their failure to dispense democratic dividends in their various states.
Governor Wike, who donated the sum of N500million for the completion of the Basic Clinical Science building of the university urged the people of Bayelsa state to continue to give their unflinching support to the government of Sen Diri adding only the PDP is determined to enthrone good governance in Nigeria.
The Rivers State Governor frowned at a situation where President Buhari is still reluctant to give accent to the Electoral Act despite the amendments by the National Assembly, noting that it was an indication of the APC’s ploy to frustrate Nigeria’s electoral process and keep the fate of Nigerians hanging.
Governor Wike also within the week at a security meeting with heads of security agencies and some Local Government chairmen at Government House Port, and emphasised the resolve of his administration to fight against illegal oil refining which he described as worse than arm robbery.
He ponted out that despite the fact that his government was in the opposition it would not condone the act of sabotage to national economy and its resultant health damage on the lives of the residents of Rivers state, adding that only LGA Chairmen that showed commitment in the detection and exposure of oil bunkering will receive the money pledged to the councils which have been approved.
Governor Wike also on Wednesday played a conciliatory role in mending the feud between two major leaders of the People’s Democratic Party in Plateau State, former Governor David Jonah Jang and former Governor of old Bendel state, Jeremiah Useni.
Identifying the disagreement between the two leaders as the bane of the PDP in Plateau State, Governor Wike, speaking with newsmen after a closed door meeting with Jang and Useni, said the resolve of the two leaders to work together now put the PDP on a strong footing to reclaim Plateau State which is a stronghold of the PDP.
Governor Wike also on Friday inspected the progress of work on the ongoing Oroabali Flyover handled by Julius Berger. He expressed satisfaction over the quality and spate of work on the project and stated that the construction of flyovers by his administration was to ease traffic congestion and promote ease of doing business in the state.
Also the Rivers State Executive Council on Thursday received a brief that N2billion and not the requested N2.5billion was released by the Central Bank of Nigeria as Health Care Intervention Support Fund to the state.
Briefing newsmen after the State Exco meeting, the Commissioner for Finance, Isaac Kamalu said the fund has already been deployed in the payment of contractors in the respective medical institutions for which the approval was sort and granted.
The Exco also grave approval to the Rivers state Government to acquire uncompleted buildings within the old and new GRA areas of Port Harcourt which serves as hideouts for criminal elements, thereby constituting nuisance to the state.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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