- The Rivers AAC expressed dissatisfaction with INEC’s decision to complete the collation of results for the governorship and state assembly elections
- The party accused INEC of working for the state governor Nyesom Wike
- Meanwhile, Rivers APC also berated INEC for accusing the military of disrupting the March P elections
The Rivers state chapter of the African Action Congress (AAC) has expressed dissatisfaction over the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s decision to complete the collation of results for the governorship and state House of Assembly elections.
INEC had suspended the electoral process in the state on Sunday, March 10, following widespread violence orchestrated by thugs and military involvements.
However, on Friday night, March 15, the commission said that the process would be completed, having confirmed the receipt of the results from 17 local governments out of 23 and also ascertained that the declaration and returns for 21 state constituencies out of 32 were made prior to the suspension.
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But the Rivers state AAC publicity secretary, Felix Enimini William, said his party considers the signal coming from INEC unacceptable, ThisDay reports.
His words: “The African Action Congress in Rivers state condemns in its entirety the memo released into media space by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by midnight purporting that governorship and state assembly elections results were available for seventeen (17) LGAs.
“Sadly, we are curiously surprised and disappointed that INEC deliberately refused to name the 17 local government areas. As far as this information is concerned, it is manifestly false and the attempt to shroud the LGAs claimed to have results in secrecy is a serious step by INEC to sway the outcome of the process in favour of Governor Nyesom Wike, its preferred candidate.”
AAC which was backed by APC after it was unable to present candidates for elections in the state following court rulings expressed fears that the electoral umpire was working to favour the incumbent Governor Wike.
“We suspect that INEC might be working to surreptitiously bring in cooked up results credited to Obio/Akpor to skew the balance of reality of things in favour of Wike. We vehemently reject this and will resist it with every pint of blood in us.
“It is now clear to all that INEC has become deaf and blind to the fact that Governor Nyesom Wike invaded the Obio/Akpor collation centre and ordered his security men to shoot an Army Captain and another soldier providing perimeter security to the collation centre. The captain and his colleague are still in hospital after undergoing serious surgery.
“We ask: Is it so difficult for INEC to name the 17 LGAs? If INEC has agreed and accepted that four collation officers are card-carrying members of PDP and INEC have now sanctioned them, what happens to the results they collated having not been qualified to do so ab initio?
“The AAC calls on INEC to stop its collaboration with Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP. It must declare Engr. Biokpomabo Awara our governorship candidate winner of the March 9 governorship election as it was glaring that he was winning until INEC stepped in to halt the process apparently to save Wike from an earth-shaking defeat,” Williams said.
In a similar development, the Rivers state chapter of the APC has equally berated INEC for stating that electoral processes were disrupted by thugs and the military during the March 9 governorship and state assembly elections.
INEC had the statement earlier quoted condemned the roles allegedly played by some soldiers and armed gangs in Rivers state during the election collation process.
However, reacting to the INEC statement, APC stalwart in Rivers state and director of strategic communications of the Tonye Cole Campaign Organisation, Prince Tonye Princewill, faulted INEC for pointing accusing fingers at the military, saying without their intervention election couldn’t have held in the state.
He said: “We’ve seen the statement issued by INEC and I stand by my earlier comment that even if they tried, INEC can’t save Wike. Apart from spelling mistakes, the vague statement reveals a lot of things about an umpire that doesn’t pay attention to finer details, refuses to take any responsibility for its failures and yet goes on to equate moral equivalence between the Nigerian Army and common thugs.
“That ludicrous position is where they reveal their true colours. The statement could easily have been drafted in collaboration with Rivers state government House. Let me reiterate again that without the army, Rivers state would have been a bloodbath. Just like with INEC, we too have more to reveal in the days to come.
“Let’s not say too much. There is an old African proverb that says if the mouth goes to war too early, when the leg arrives, the enemy will grab it.”
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, said that no other political party can win in the state except the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor Wike said this when members of the national assembly, elected on the platform of the PDP, presented their certificates of return to him at government house, Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Friday, March 15.
Speaking on the suspension of electoral processes in the state, Wike said he believes that INEC is doing its best to follow due process, urging the people of the state to remain calm.
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