'Speak against the Federal Government,' Wike urges Church leaders

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State at an event on Wednesday, challenged all Church
leaders to speak up against what he described as "continuously harassment of former

public office holders from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the Federal Government
," and inorder to prevent the country from "drifting into an era of unprecedented crisis."

At the event which held at Saint Paul's Cathedral (Church) in Rivers State, Port Harcourt, the Governor, who was the guest speaker, enjoined all pastors to act as moral guardians to the country's politicians for as long as the state of affairs in Nigeria does not conform to the the moral injunctions
of God.

"As long as the state of affairs in Nigeria does not conform to the ideas of justice,
democracy, the rule of law and the moral injunctions of God, and as long as their
remains no clear hope that things are going to change for the good of the country, we
need as many voices that can speak the truth to our politicians and the Church of God
cannot afford to keep mum, while things go wrong and the nation continues to drift
dangerously towards the cliff of crisis.

"People say power of any kind corrupts, but political power can be more vicious if
exercised unchecked and in disregard of democratic norms."

Wike alleged that the current fight against corruption in Nigeria has been politicised
and designed to oppress opponents of the Federal Government.

"While we all support the Federal Government’s much-vaunted, but pretentious fight
against corruption is patently wrong to fight corruption with corruption and double-
speak or by side-stepping the rule of law, disobeying court orders and blackmailing the
judiciary to submission. Unfortunately, this is the order of the day under the present
democratic dispensation.

"How can the Federal Government justify the situation where former public office holders
from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are continuously harassed, hunted and hounded
with corruption charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, while at the
same time sparing those other members who defected to the All peoples Congress (APC) of
similar investigations and treatment except the pure vendetta against His Excellency,
Dr. Bukola Saraki for daring to contest the office of the Senate Presidency against the
wish of the cabals in his party.