‘We Will Take It By Force,’ Wike Dares Rivers Govt Over Access To Stadium 

The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, has threatened to force entry into the Yakubu Gowon Stadium, alleging that the Rivers State Government denied the Renewed Hope Ambassadors access to the venue for a rally. 

Wike, the immediate past governor of the coastal state, spoke on Friday during the inauguration of coordinators of the group across the 23 local government areas of Rivers State.

“We applied to the Rivers State Government for the Yakubu Gowon Stadium. They refused us. But let me say, next time we will do this, if you don’t approve it, we will break it by force,” Wike said at the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

“So the coordinator of the state [Renewed Hope Ambassadors], write again to the state government. Choose a day, and we will inaugurate the ward level. I want to say to everybody to hear: enough is enough. We are all from Rivers State.

“Nobody can deny us the facilities of the state. If you don’t agree to give us, we will do the needful, and we take it by force. Heaven will never fall. Even when heaven falls, everywhere will be at peace.”

The ex-governor asked them to be bold despite the alleged intimidation by the Rivers State government.

“We must go and make sure this is inaugurated ward by ward, unit by unit, and we will take a date to make sure we inaugurate them. I have told the leadership of the party, the way they have done for local government, so we will do for the wards. We will provide vehicles for each of the wards.

“So nobody should be intimidated. We are here to support you. The members of various councils have agreed to make more commitments to make sure each ward gets a bus, to make sure the campaign for the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ is being realized,” the minister told a teeming crowd of supporters.

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Rivers Denies Allegation

But the Rivers State Government has denied the allegation, saying it was baseless.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Honour Sirawoo, spoke to journalists on Friday evening after an inspection tour of the facility.

Sirawoo described the allegation as false and misleading, explaining that the Yakubu Gowon Stadium is undergoing reconstruction and thus unsafe for public use.