All Progressives Congress supporters protesting at the INEC office in Port Harcourt... on Sunday
The office of the Independent
National Electoral Commission in the Emouha Local Government Area of
Rivers State was on Saturday night set ablaze by persons believed to be
political thugs.
A senior official of the commission
confirmed the incident hours after hundreds of All Progressives Congress
protesters on Sunday besieged the INEC office in Port Harcourt
demanding the conduct of a fresh presidential and National Assembly
elections in the state.
The INEC official, who did not want his
name in print, said, “I got information from one of our officials that
some individuals harassed them before setting the place ablaze on
Saturday.
“We are still trying to gather more information on the situation.”
The protesting APC supporters had
converged on the Government House in Port Harcourt, around noon before
proceeding to the INEC office on Aba Road.
The party supporters, who were led by
their governorship, Dakuku Peterside, carried placards some of which
read, ‘‘INEC is an arm of Rivers PDP,’’ ‘‘There was no election in
Rivers,’’ ‘‘We must be allowed to vote,’’ and ‘‘INEC, conduct election
in Rivers State.’’
At the gate of the commission’s office,
they explained that the protest was necessary because they were
disenfranchised on Saturday.
Peterside told journalists that there
was no election in the state, adding that the Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Gecilla Khan, played a ‘‘key’’ role in subverting the
will of the people.
He said that people did not vote after observing that result sheets were not available.
The APC candidate added, “What you are
seeing here are registered voters, who are supporters of the APC. They
are here to protest the fact that yesterday (Saturday), they were not
allowed to exercise their franchise.
“They got to their various polling
booths only to discover that there were no result sheets and without the
result sheets, the election cannot be conducted in compliance with the
Electoral Law.
“In substance, there were no elections
anywhere in Rivers State, at least in 20 Local Government Areas. Apart
from the fact that there were no result sheets, the few places where
accreditation was done, results were not announced at the polling booths
in accordance with the law.
“Results were not collated at the
various LGAs; we later heard that results were being collated at various
homes around the city of Port Harcourt and the suburbs. We are here to
register our protest.
“There were no elections in Rivers State
and violence was visited on our people. Over 10 persons died in various
locations in Rivers State. Over 65 of our members were arrested by the
police and the military.”
Peterside stated that it was wrong to
seek the cancellation of the election since, according to him, no
election was held in the state.
He expressed sadness that while he and
some APC candidates were eager to see the state REC, they were not
allowed to enter the office of the commission.
The governorship candidate said, “We are
calling for elections and not cancellation because there was no
election. All we are asking for is that please, can we vote? There are
two different things; we are saying there were no elections at all and
not that elections were not held.
“As you can see, we have been here for
two hours and they said the REC is not available. Someone who identified
himself as the administrative secretary of INEC in Rivers State
received our petition.
“But we are insisting that we must see the REC because she played a key role in subverting the will of Rivers people.”
One of the protesters, Nelson Ogujie
from Okakin in Ahaoda West LGA, told our correspondent that he did not
vote in his polling unit because of the absence of result sheets.
Ogujie explained that they were at the
INEC office to express their grievances and call on INEC to conduct a
fresh presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.
Also, the lawmaker representing Rivers
South East in the National Assembly and the APC senatorial candidate in
Saturday’s election, Magnus Abe, accused the police and the military of
bias.
Abe said he saw some INEC officials
putting their thumbprint on ballots in favour of the PDP, adding that
when the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Gokana LGA, Kadilo Kabari,
raised the alarm, some policemen descended on him.
He added that the PDP National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, would have conducted a fair and credible election than the state REC.
The Senator added, “I was nearly killed.
I am from Ward 16 in Gokana LGA. There was no election in my ward. In
Gokana, there was no election. People could not vote.
“Even when people were accredited, when
they wanted to vote and they asked of the result sheets to collate
whatever they voted, there was none. People came, shot guns and carted
away the materials.
“So, I went to the police station with
my local government council chairman to brief the SSS and when we go
there, all the so-called INEC staff were all PDP members and they were
there in the police station, thumbprint on ballots.
“The council chairman then called the
police to say ‘what is happening in your station? And you call yourself a
policeman. These hoodlums descended on him. He is currently in the
hospital.”
However, the state chapter of the PDP described the call by the supporters for fresh elections as “a behaviour of bad losers.”
The PDP, in a statement by the Special
Adviser to the state Chairman Jerry Needam, denied allegation of
violence against APC members.
According to the party , the allegation
was diversionary and orchestrated by the APC to disrupt the elections
when it became clear that the PDP was coasting to victory.
A part of the statement reads, “On the
other hand, it is the APC that has been investing in violence in the
state. A few examples will show. In Gokana LGA of the state, armed
members of the APC in Bera, the home town of Senator Abe and Victor
Giadom, went to the home of one of the PDP stalwart and the former PDP
governorship aspirant, Dumbari Ben-Dimkpa, and burnt down his
house.”
The PDP however hailed the conduct of the elections in the state, saying the results reflected the wish of the people.
“Rivers State is a traditional
PDP state and even if the elections are conducted a million times, the
PDP will win here. Was the APC expecting Rivers people to vote for
another presidential candidate other than President Goodluck Jonathan?
That must be a wishful thinking.”
Observers floor elections in Rivers
A group of international observers has
however declared that violence and widespread irregularities
characterised the exercise in the state.
The observers, who spoke with newsmen in
Port Harcourt on Sunday, added that the elections faced the challenge
of faulty card readers.
Jennifer Lynne, who is the leader of the
Contact Project, United States, pointed out that many polling units
were compromised due to the handling of the election materials.
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