- Says other staff were injured, abducted, NYSC condemns killing
- PDP upbraids electoral commission, security agencies, APC
- Ruling party insists on cancellation of results, Amaechi denies abduction of collation officer
Ernest Chinwo, Segun James, Shola Oyeyipo in Port Harcourt, Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Adebiyi Adedapo in Abuja
The Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) has said that it would have to conduct fresh polls in
all the areas where it suspended the electoral process in Rivers State
due to the violence and criminality that characterised the elections in
the state at the weekend.
Resulting from the widespread violence
and electoral irregularities, INEC also confirmed monday that one of its
ad hoc staff, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Mr. Samuel
Dumebi Okonta, was killed during the exercise.
INEC’s announcement coincided with that
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which said the conduct of INEC
and security operatives of the federal government in Saturday’s
elections in Rivers State fell short of expected standards, given the
level of mobilisation and preparedness.
On Sunday, INEC released the results of
nine state constituencies and one federal constituency in which rerun
elections were held in Rivers State, but suspended the electoral process
in all other constituencies in the state where results were not
announced, blaming its action on widespread violence that marred the
elections.
Last Saturday’s election took place in
three senatorial districts, 12 federal constituencies and 22 state
constituencies in 23 local government areas in the state.
Speaking on the conduct of the polls,
the INEC Director of Publicity, Mr. Nick Dazang, said the commission
will fix a date for a fresh conduct of the elections in the areas
affected by its suspension order, after due assessment of reports from
its officials.
Dazang, who spoke to THISDAY monday
afternoon, confirmed that the commission only declared results of nine
state assembly constituencies and one federal constituency.
He said the commission would work with
the security agencies to ascertain when the atmosphere is right for
fresh polls in the areas affected by suspension of electoral process.
“This means they are suspended until
when the commission decides to conduct elections in those places. It
means that the elections have not taken place in those areas if they
were not concluded to the point in which you could announce the winner
and then it is suspended to be re-conducted subsequently,” he said.
On the fate of the election results in
those areas affected by the suspension of the electoral process, Dazang
said: “Only the results of the elections in the nine state
constituencies and one federal constituency already declared will stand
since the commission cannot reverse them.”
He also stated that INEC was no longer
bound by any timeline to conduct elections in the areas affected by the
suspension, adding that conducting elections in those areas will now be
at the convenience of the commission and other stakeholders, like the
security agencies.
“INEC’s returning officers have only
declared results in nine state assembly constituencies and one federal
constituency. The commission is bound by law not to reverse any result
of an election once it has been declared by the returning officer.
“Only the relevant courts can reverse
such a decision on the result or set it aside. In other words, those
elections that have been returned or declared are given, but those that
have not been declared by the returning officers are the ones that will
be affected by the suspension.
“The commission has asked all our
national commissioners, resident electoral commissioners and other key
officers such as the electoral officers and the monitors to submit their
reports on the elections which it will study and from there it can now
decide what to do.
“Given what has happened before in Kogi
and Bayelsa States, reports on the Rivers State rerun election are
intended to help INEC develop a template for conducting elections in
violent prone areas. Also, it will help us to know what measures should
be put in place before such elections.
“The security agencies which INEC is
working with will have to give security guarantees before fresh polls
can take place, because what we have now is a highly insecure situation
and we have even received a report that one of our staff was killed in
the state,” he said.
Elaborating, Dazang said one of the
staff of INEC was confirmed killed and many others were either injured
or abducted by criminal elements.
“We have scores of our staff who were
injured and many others who were abducted. So under that kind of
situation, you cannot rush back to the place to say that you are
conducting elections and putting people’s lives at risk. You cannot
blame INEC for what has happened in Rivers State,” he said.
On the allegations by the PDP on the
abuses committed by the security agencies, especially the military,
Dazang said the commission has not received any report indicting the
security agencies of malfeasance during the Rivers rerun elections.
Also, INEC was emphatic that it had not
released any more results on the Rivers State rerun elections except the
10 it released on Sunday.
In this regard, the commission asked the
public to discountenance reports that it released results of the state
and federal constituency elections for Port Harcourt area.
Some radio stations monitored in Port
Harcourt yesterday reported that Kenneth Chikere of the PDP polled
18,904 votes to beat Igochukwu Aguma of APC who got 6,035 votes in Port
Harcourt Federal Constituency I.
In Port Harcourt Federal Constituency
II, Blessing Nsiegbe of PDP was said to have polled 6,968 votes to beat
Collins Owonda of the APC who got 3,154 votes.
Other results announced at the various
collation centres, according to the stations, said that for Port
Harcourt state constituency II, PDP’s Smart Adoki Ibisiki got 15,240
votes to defeat APC’s Irine Inimgba who polled 2,844 votes.
Reacting to the results, the state
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of INEC, Aniedi Ikoiwak, told
THISDAY, that the commission was standing by the results it declared
only on Sunday in nine state constituencies and one federal
constituency.
He stated that in the results released
by the commission, the PDP won eight state constituencies namely Ahoada
East I and II, Akukutoru I, Emohua, Obio/Akpor I and II,
Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni I, Omuma and Opobo, while the APC won Opobo/Nkoro.
“The authentic results are the ones
contained in the release we issued on the elections. We have suspended
all issues relating to the Rivers State rerun elections since yesterday
(Sunday). So any additional results purportedly released are not from
INEC,” he said.
Ikoiwak also confirmed the death of a NYSC member in Ahoada West during the elections on Saturday.
He however refused to release details, stating that the NYSC would contact the parents of the deceased.
However, the PDP expressed its
disappointment in INEC under the leadership of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu,
stating that the electoral commission has not been able to conduct any
conclusive election in a few constituencies and states so far and
wondered what would be the case when the entire country is involved.
In a statement yesterday by its National
Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP said the only reason for
the seizure of the results was the fact that the PDP candidates were
heading towards a clear and overwhelming victory in all the rerun
elections, prompting the All Progressives Congress (APC), in connivance
with INEC, to seek to use the delay to manipulate the results.
“Also grossly unacceptable was the
shoddy work by security operatives leading to the escalation of
violence, avoidable deaths and eventual cancellation of election results
in eight local government areas in the state.”
The party said the nation and the
international community should hold INEC, security operatives and the
APC responsible should there be a breakdown of law and order in the
state over the non-release of the final results.
“Nigerians and the international
community can now see the desperation of the APC, which has now
arm-twisted INEC in an unholy bid to alter the results of the elections
and subvert the will of the people.
“We want the APC and INEC to mark the
salient fact that the PDP, the people of Rivers State and indeed all
Nigerians are already aware of the results from respective polling
centers, wards and local government areas and will in no way whatsoever
accept any final result that does not tally with the actual and already
established figures from the polling units.
“We wish to remind the APC and INEC that
Rivers State is a known stronghold of the PDP and the results from the
elections cannot show otherwise. INEC should therefore understand that
Nigerians are aware that in withholding the final results, they are
ostensibly preparing grounds for chaos in the state.
“While we invite all to note the
avoidable growing tension occasioned by the desperation of the APC to
steal the mandate of the people, we caution INEC to extricate itself
from the evil web and immediately release all the final results on the
ballot as cast by the people and nothing more,” the opposition party
said.
However, APC in River State yesterday called for the cancellation of results of the rerun elections.
Addressing a press conference yesterday
in Port Harcourt, the state chairman of the party, Dr. Davies Ikanya,
alleged that “the position of the APC is that the entire rerun elections
were marred by irregularities, violence and unlawful interferences by
Nyesom Wike, the governor of Rivers State, inadequate security, a
compromised process especially with indiscriminate, irregular and
untrained ad hoc staff in some cases, among other very serious issues”.
He said: “The APC calls on the INEC
chairman and its entire management team to cancel the Rivers State rerun
elections to enable all the pitfalls earlier enumerated to be corrected
before a fresh rerun election is held.”
He also accused Wike of interference in
the conduct of the elections, stating that: “Governor Nyesom Wike, in
company of heavily armed soldiers and police with armoured personnel
carriers, unlawfully visited collation centres in PHALGA, Obio/Akpor,
Ikwerre, EMOLGA and other areas where he intimidated electoral personnel
and took over the collation of results in those areas and with the
connivance of the DPOs, who provided further protection for fake INEC ad
hoc staff to collate and declare results.
“This is in complete conflict of the
relevant electoral laws. The result of the entire exercise became
compromised as a result of the unlawful interference by Governor Nyesom
Wike.
“Again, the Secretary to the State
Government, Kenneth Kobani brazenly went to a local council with thugs
and shot guns and attempted to cause confusion and violence before he
was arrested. The governor’s Special Adviser on Projects was caught with
armed thugs in military uniform and N40m on election day at Bori.”
But as APC and PDP continued the blame
game over the violent rerun elections in the state, the management of
NYSC yesterday announced the death of a corps member, Mr. Okonta Dumebi
Samuel (RV/15B/5539), who died during the exercise in Rivers State at
the weekend.
According to a statement from the NYSC,
Okonta, who until his demise, served at GCSS Ukpeliede, was shot dead by
unknown gunmen in Ahoada West Local Government Area.
“The murder of this patriotic young man,
who was an orphan, is primitive, barbaric and ungodly, and should be
strongly condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians,” NYSC said.
NYSC also promised to ensure that Okonta’s killers do not go unpunished.
“The NYSC shall work with the relevant
agencies to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous act are fished
out and made to face the full wrath of the law.
“We consider Okonta Samuel’s death as a
great loss, not only to his immediate family, but also to all of us in
the NYSC family and the entire nation.
“May the Almighty God grant him eternal
rest, and give his immediate family and the rest of us the fortitude to
bear the irreparable loss,” it said.
The NYSC also confirmed that another
corps member who was with the deceased at the time of the fatal attack
in Ahoada, escaped from the scene with the help of security agents.
“We also wish to state that another
corps member – Anana Aniekan Udoetor (RV/15B/5537) – who was initially
reported missing, was found hale and hearty,” NYSC stated.
Meanwhile, the Minister of
Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi yesterday denied reports on his
abduction of the INEC collation officer for PHALGA Ward 10, Mrs. Ekwi
Adebisa.
A statement by his media office said the
minister met her for the first time at the Mile 1 police station on
Sunday and left her there in the safe custody of the Assistant Inspector
General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 6, Mr. Baba Bolanta.
The statement said: “Amaechi did not leave the station with her. This can easily be confirmed from the AIG.
“At the Mile 1 police station, at no
point did Mrs. Adebisa say that she was abducted by the minister or any
member of the minister’s party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“All the stories of her alleged
abduction by APC members were lies peddled by the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) and Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment