According to the Rivers State Government, the office was closed because it was causing noisy political activity in a residential neighborhood.
The Rivers State Atiku/Okowa campaign office, located at the GRA axis in Port Harcourt, was sealed on Friday, December 23, 2022, based on Executive Orders 21 and 22.
Explaining why it took the action, the state government said the office was producing noisy political activities in residential areas without approval from the right authorities.
Recall that Wike had earlier signed two executive orders, which among others, prohibited the use of buildings in residential areas for political activities without the express approval of the state government.
[ruby_related heading=”More Read” total=5 layout=1]Meanwhile, reacting to the development, the PDP Presidential Campaign Council in Rivers faulted the state government’s action, describing it as anti-democratic and a violation of free expression.
The PCC accused the Rivers government of frustrating its efforts to get approval to use the office premises for its political activities.
In a statement by the media team of the council on Friday, it explained that the written application sent to the state government had been ignored for months until the venue was sealed on Friday.
PDP statement reads:
“The public is hereby informed that the sealed premises had no bill board or poster, since the approval had not been given, yet it was sealed off, a sign that the delay in the approval is premeditated and computed to cause this sort of unlawfulness.
“We condemn this act because it rubs off on our fundamental right to free expression of interest. Furthermore, this egregious move by the Rivers State Government, seen in the prism of politics, tends to militarise our democracy and renders our dear state politically recessive when juxtaposed with other states in the country.
“We urge our dear leaders in the state to challenge this illegality in a court of competent jurisdiction so that friction can disappear from our political space.
