Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State yesterday claimed that he was under house arrest in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The governor was in the Rivers State capital for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s botched national convention.
Mr. Fayose said he was not at the convention ground, because he was purportedly placed under house arrest at the old Presidential Lodge of the Government House, Port Harcourt.
The governor was conspicuously missing at the meeting that took place at the PDP secretariat on Aba Road, Port Harcourt, after security agencies sealed off the Sharks Stadium, initial venue of the convention.
He said an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) was used to barricade the entrance of the Presidential Lodge.
According to Lere Olayinka, the governor’s Special Assistant on Communications and New Media, that all efforts to Mr. Fayose to attend the PDP meeting were rebuffed by the security personnel.
He described the action as unbelievable and unfortunate.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command said it was not aware of Fayose being placed under house arrest.
The command’s spokesperson, Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said yesterday evening that there was no report of such incident.
Omoni insisted that officers and men of the Rivers police command were law abiding and polite, with emphasis always placed on due process and rule of law.
Chairman of the National Convention Planning Committee and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, lampooned the security agencies for refusing to obey the judgment order of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.
According to him: “All the vehicles used by the police to invade the Sharks Stadium were bought by my administration. All the Armoured Personnel Carriers they used were serviced by my administration. What happened was unfortunate.
“If the PDP had used the security agencies to torment the APC this way, by now the APC wouldn’t have been in power”.
He further dismissed the claim by the factional national chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff that the convention was illegal, saying “Sheriff is not an asset to PDP because he cannot win elections in Borno state. For us, we are working to rebuild the party”.
