The Rivers Bloody Re-run Poll

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The Rivers Bloody Re-run Poll

By Correspondent

 The moment the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the new date it set aside for the re-run of both the National and State Assembly elections in Rivers State, it became obvious that peace would soon disappear, and what would follow would be the call for a possible emergency rule in the state. The situation in Rivers State, though bloody, is not in any way different from the scenario we have gradually become accustomed to in the nation’s politics. There is no doubt that the re-run polls of March 19, 2016 actually commenced before the election proper. To be specific, and prior to the said re-run poll, the state governor, Nyesom Wike was quoted as saying that anyone coming with the intention of manipulating the election should first get his or her will prepared. The governor did not stop at that, he was also said to have pointed accusing fingers at the officials of INEC for engaging ad hoc staff from the APC camp and also circulating fake results sheets. It is no longer news, that it was the bloody election that prompted INEC to put a stop to the collation of results. This, in turn, has caused what legal minds describe as a constitutional crisis in the state. Whereas it is obvious that there are outright calls by the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the entire election to be cancelled, the Peoples Democratic on its part insists that the blame should go to the APC. According to the Rivers State chairman of the APC, Chief Davies Ikanya, “The position of the Rivers APC is that the entire rerun elections in the state were marred by irregularities, violence and unlawful interference by the State Government. Inadequate security compromised the process, especially with indiscriminate, irregular and untrained ad-hoc staff. “The APC, therefore, calls on INEC to cancel the entire re-run elections in the state to enable it to correct the pitfalls.” On the other hand, the state governor is insisting that INEC should declare results recorded on the same result sheets he earlier described as fake. The APC insisted that Wike alongside his party must be held responsible for the violence which took the lives of people during the period of the election. APC said, “The position of the APC is that the entire rerun election was marred by irregularities, violence and unlawful interference by Nyesom Wike, inadequate security, compromised process, especially with indiscriminate, irregular and untrained ad hoc staff in some cases, among other very serious issues. “The first strategy of Nyesom Wike was to deliberately saturate the atmosphere with his threat of death and violence against INEC personnel for the rerun. “The rerun elections witnessed a well-planned spate of violence by Nyesom Wike across Rivers State. It was glaring that security was inadequate across the state. The only fairly secure areas were the LGA headquarters, where a handful of police and army personnel were deployed, but were unable to effectively cover other volatile areas/population centres of the LGAs. “In this rerun election, we established a pattern whereby INEC cancelled or suspended results in areas where the APC was winning. We find this unacceptable, especially when results smuggled in by the PDP were upheld. “Nyesom Wike, in company of heavily-armed soldiers and policemen, with armoured personnel carriers, unlawfully visited collation centres in Port Harcourt City, Obio/Akpor, Ikwerre, Emohua LGAs and other areas, where he (Wike) 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 relevant electoral laws. The result of the entire exercise became compromised, as a result of the unlawful interference by Nyesom Wike.” The Rivers APC further displayed shock over what it termed the determination of Governor Wike, alongside his Chief of Staff, Emeka Woke, to eliminate the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, Asita and Ikanya, just as it called investigation and prosecution of the arrested suspects. Conversely, the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Felix Obuah, also called for the arrest of Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and the DG of NIMASA and governorship candidate of the APC, during last year’s election, Peterside; and other leaders of the party, for electoral violence. According to the PDP, “Suffice to say that the situation in Rivers State, for some people, requires a State of Emergency, following the unabated political killings, which some people attributed to unmeasured comments of the state governor.” 

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