Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has declared that political parties in the state must deposit a five million naira safety fee before using any public school for campaign events and rallies.

The governor made this declaration while also approving a motion passed by the State Assembly to decertify Celestine Omehia as the former governor of Rivers State and Executive Order 21 prohibiting the use of public schools for political campaigns without the consent of the state ministry of education.

He noted that applicants will have to deposit the money should in case the rallygoers manage to damage school properties.

He said that without formal authorisation from the Commissioner of Education, the Order expressly forbids the use of public school buildings, structures, and grounds for political demonstrations.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the use of public school buildings, structures and premises for political rallies is lawful only when there is compliance with the following conditions: (a) obtaining permission from the Commissioner of Education not less than the two (2) weeks before the date of the rally; and (b) paying a non-refundable security fee of N5,000,000.00 (five million naira) only.” – Wike said.

The restrictive Order, according to Governor Wike, was put in place as part of the government’s duty to safeguard public school facilities from harm or destruction.

He added that it will also stop political rallies from interfering with classroom activities at public schools.

Governor Wike issued a warning, threatening appropriate sanctions for any public school administrator who collaborates with political parties to break the law against the unauthorized use of public school buildings and grounds for political rallies.

𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕?
𝑾𝒆’𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒙 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘!