Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has called on Nigerians to prevail on the National Assembly to override President Muhammadu Buhari’s veto of the 2010 Electoral Act Amendment Bill to guarantee free, fair and credible electoral system in the country.

Addressing the 2018 Annual Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Section on Legal Practice Conference in Port Harcourt on Thursday , Governor Wike urged Nigerian legal practitioners to rise up and insist on the relevance of the amended Electoral Act 2010.

He said: “We must all stand up against the devilish efforts by some anti-democratic forces to kill the ongoing process to amend the 2010 Electoral Act on the whimsical excuse that the order of elections proposed in the Amendment Bill contravenes the discretionary powers of INEC, which, in any case, has not complained of any mischief occasioned by the new order.

“Let me remind us that a defining feature of the legal profession is the commitment to promote both the substantive rules and the processes of the law, as well as, to defend the democratic values of our society.”

Governor Wike said though the 2010 Electoral Act was enacted to promote credible elections, the All Progressive Congress (APC) working with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Police manipulated the Act to rig the rerun elections in Rivers State.

He said in view of the fraudulent activities of INEC, APC and the Police , the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal upheld results concocted by the Police for the Rivers Rerun Elections

He said: “We all saw how results sheets were duplicated with identical serial numbers and handed over to the police to entre fake results and returns in favour of the candidates of the APC in the said elections.

“In spite of this law, we all saw how both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal anchored their verdicts on results that were generated and certified from the custody of the Nigerian Police, while the results from INEC, which conducted the elections, were branded irrelevant and accordingly rejected.

“What all these mean is that a thousand Electoral Laws may amount to nothing for as long as the Federal Government, the INEC, the Police and other government agencies that may legally or illegally be brought into the election process, continue to disrespect the law and trample on our democratic rights to free and fair elections with impunity and without suffering any legal pains or punishment for their criminal conduct.”

Governor Wike urged the legal profession to constantly reinvent and reposition itself in response to existing and new challenges both in the theory and practice of the law.

The governor also said lawyers must also rethink the way they practice to remain relevant in the profession and meet the needs of their clients and society in the most professional, diligent and efficient manner.

Declaring the conference open, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onoghen represented by Justice AB Gumel said the timing of the conference is right as it will allow the bench and bar the opportunity to appraise emerging issues of justice delivery.

He urged judges to adhere to the tenets of the law in their delivery of judgments.

President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) said the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Law Practice is a vehicle for deepening professional practice in the bar.

Chairman of NBA Section on Legal Practice, Mainnaya Essien (SAN) said recent ethical issues require an appraisal of practice and challenges.

Highpoint of the conference was the presentation of a recognition plaque to Governor Wike by the NBA President for the outstanding contributions of the Rivers State Governor to the legal profession.

Wike the master rigger

BUHARI CV SO FAR

- All salary arrears paid up
- All contractual debts paid up
- All Pension arrears paid up
- All money owed Biafran war veterans paid off
- Almost known treasury leakages sealed up
- Treasury thieves being investigated and prosecuted
- Recession overcome within one year
- The foreign reserve keeps growing despite low oil price
- Inflation is reducing
- The Capital market rated highest globally
- The ease of doing business rated high
- Greatly reduced food import bills
- Greatly increased Internal Revenue Generation drive
- Revamped and more effective tax regime
- More efficient and more responsible Civil Service
- All Federal roads being reconstructed across the Country
- Fast rails being constructed between the state capitals
- Gas pipeline being laid from South to Abuja, Kaduna and Kano
- 13 Modular Refineries being built in ND
- Private Financing for our three Refineries being negotiated
- Private Refineries to collocate with the existing Refineries being concluded
- Influx of foreign companies increasing
- Increased investments by domestic investors
- The Electricity Generating capacity at 7000 MW
- Transmission Capacity at 7000 MW
- Distribution capacity being restructured to inject more capital and expertise
- The economy of Nigeria being Restructured from oil based to Agric, Solid Mineral and Manufacture based
- Boko Haram now a distant ding in the orchestra of general quietude
- IPOB now a mute idea ready for discussions at the right time
- Niger Delta Avengers now reduced from a movement to Madam’s Patie military wing for retaining her loot.
- Military vehicles sourced from a Nigeria car manufacturer for the first time
These are not propositions; all these and more will be on the Curriculum Vitae of PMB in the 2019 Presidential Elections. And he did not achieve these by fluke, he was deliberate; the economy he inherited was dire. The country was running on one cylinder and the engine had just coughed its last, the engine was dead and the ”plane” was adrift.
I know all these achievements won’t make meaning to wailers because they are not putting money directly into your pockets. I know that is the only achievements Nigerians recognise. The amount of money individuals grab into their pockets.
Orderliness is more vital than speed"

The whole constitution is faulty

ALMUSTAQIM:
BUHARI CV SO FAR

- All salary arrears paid up
- All contractual debts paid up
- All Pension arrears paid up
- All money owed Biafran war veterans paid off
- Almost known treasury leakages sealed up
- Treasury thieves being investigated and prosecuted
- Recession overcome within one year
- The foreign reserve keeps growing despite low oil price
- Inflation is reducing
- The Capital market rated highest globally
- The ease of doing business rated high
- Greatly reduced food import bills
- Greatly increased Internal Revenue Generation drive
- Revamped and more effective tax regime
- More efficient and more responsible Civil Service
- All Federal roads being reconstructed across the Country
- Fast rails being constructed between the state capitals
- Gas pipeline being laid from South to Abuja, Kaduna and Kano
- 13 Modular Refineries being built in ND
- Private Financing for our three Refineries being negotiated
- Private Refineries to collocate with the existing Refineries being concluded
- Influx of foreign companies increasing
- Increased investments by domestic investors
- The Electricity Generating capacity at 7000 MW
- Transmission Capacity at 7000 MW
- Distribution capacity being restructured to inject more capital and expertise
- The economy of Nigeria being Restructured from oil based to Agric, Solid Mineral and Manufacture based
- Boko Haram now a distant ding in the orchestra of general quietude
- IPOB now a mute idea ready for discussions at the right time
- Niger Delta Avengers now reduced from a movement to Madam’s Patie military wing for retaining her loot.
- Military vehicles sourced from a Nigeria car manufacturer for the first time
These are not propositions; all these and more will be on the Curriculum Vitae of PMB in the 2019 Presidential Elections. And he did not achieve these by fluke, he was deliberate; the economy he inherited was dire. The country was running on one cylinder and the engine had just coughed its last, the engine was dead and the ”plane” was adrift.
I know all these achievements won’t make meaning to wailers because they are not putting money directly into your pockets. I know that is the only achievements Nigerians recognise. The amount of money individuals grab into their pockets.
Orderliness is more vital than speed"

Stick to that lie,Nigerians knows better. Sycophants

The question is, why is a change in the election order necessary?

SillyMods:
The question is, why is a change in the election order necessary?

Because it will bring transparency!

Claiming saint

anti Democratic Wike himself wanting to teach us democracy; nonsense! Go ahead and bribe the lawbreakers to override PMB and waste Rivers money . For sponsoring the killings of innocent Riverns to gain undeserved sympathy, God will expose you soon. You can only rig under Clueless.

Obinwenite:

Because it will bring transparency!

What transparency is lacking in the current arrangement?

I stand with the re-order of the election sequence..

It would give mushroom parties a chance to elective positions.

It would eliminate bandwagon effects.

Listen to Wike's advise at ur own peril

Should someone who rode to d brick-house by fire by force through the presidential might of GEJ be talking about free and fair election?