THE Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress
has kicked against the declaration of the results of last Saturday’s
supplementary rerun elections in Etche by the Independent National Electoral
Commission.
Elections were held for Etche State Constituency seat of the
House of Assembly and the Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency seat, which were won
by the Peoples Democratic Party.
But the state APC argued that since the Returning Officers,
Prof. Olatunbosun Odusanya and Prof. Shola Omotola had declared the election
inconclusive, it was wrong for INEC to have gone ahead to declare any result.
A statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris
Finebone, said the announcement of the incomplete results of the elections was
wrong.
The statement said, “The Rivers State Chapter of All
Progressives Congress recalls that yesterday’s (Saturday) supplementary rerun
elections for Etche State Constituency and Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency
were formally declared inconclusive by the Returning Officers, Prof.
Olatunbosun Odusanya and Prof. Shola Omotola respectively at Okehi, on
Saturday.
“They subsequently announced that the conclusion of the
process will take place today (Sunday) or on Monday. However, we are taken
aback by signals indicating that the National Electoral Commissioner in charge,
Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, has ordered that the incomplete results be declared
despite the earlier declaration by the two Returning Officers on Saturday at
Okehi that the elections were inconclusive.
“It is pertinent to remind INEC that in line with the
relevant section of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), it is only the
Returning Officers that are empowered to announce the results of elections and
not the National Electoral Commissioner, the Resident Electoral Commissioner or
any other,” the state APC stressed.
It maintained that declaring the results of elections that
had earlier been announced as inconclusive would amount to a “gross” violation
of INEC’s rules and demonstrate the height of inconsistency and illegality on
the part of the commission.
“We urge INEC to proceed to conclude the elections without
further delay before declaring the results accordingly,” the state APC added.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has
advised the national leadership of the APC to forget about rigging elections in
the state.
Wike explained that the people of the state would always
resist the evil machinations of the APC, adding that Rivers remained a PDP
State, where the people were satisfied with his development strides.
The governor spoke on Sunday at a special thanksgiving
service and dedication of awards bestowed on him by the Christian Association
of Nigeria, Sun Newspapers, Authority Newspapers and Independent Newspapers at
the Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral.
Wike expressed regrets that that APC leadership had
continued to fight against Rivers State to the extent of trying to stop the Sun
Newspapers from bestowing on him the Governor of the Year, 2016, award by Sun
Newspapers.
He said, “They should forget about this state. No matter the
level of security force, they will not be able to snatch Rivers State.”
The governor, however, commended the security agencies, who
covered the Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency elections for being professional
despite the pressure from the APC national leadership.
One of the leaders of the APC in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku
Peterside, has accused INEC of being compromised by Governor Nyesom Wike.
Peterside also accused the governor of manhandling INEC
officials and forcing them to do his bidding in an effort to prove that his
“factionalised” PDP was a popular party in the state.
Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Peterside expressed
regrets over the way INEC in the state went about announcing results of
elections, which the commission had earlier declared inconclusive.
He stressed that INEC violated its own rules and guidelines,
saying, “The results clearly do not reflect what transpired during the election
of yesterday (Saturday), even though it added the discredited results of
earlier elections of March 19 and December 10 last year.”
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