By Jimitota Onoyume

PORT HARCOURT— Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has dismissed claims in some quarters that the state was facing security challenges.

The governor, at a state banquet, Tuesday night, at Government House, Port Harcourt, for vice chancellors of universities in Nigeria, said the choice of the state as venue for the vice chancellors’ conference was because the state was peaceful.

He said: “We have committed ourselves to hosting many national meetings and conferences since we took over the reins of governance. This we have done to prove that we have restored peace and stability to the state with businesses going on without hindrance.

“If you (the vice chancellors) had not come here for your 30th annual conference, you might have been tempted to believe that Port Harcourt was an unsafe place. They created the impression that as you move around Port Harcourt, you see corpses of people who have been killed in violent clashes.  The days you spent in Port Harcourt, you noticed that it is a peaceful community with a rich night life.”

The governor, who said some persons were busy painting false pictures of the state after the elections, assured that he would continue to deliver dividends of democracy to the people of the state.

He said his administration had revived the judiciary and the Assembly that were in comatose, adding that Nigerians should ignore those spreading false stories about insecurity about the state.