UK, PDP condemn military as INEC suspends Rivers polls

UK, PDP condemn military as INEC suspends Rivers polls

Soldiers block with truck and armoured tank the road leading to the state headquarters of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on March 10, 2019. – Fears has gripped residents of oil-rich Port Harcourt city in Niger delta region as state headquarters of Independent National Electoral Commission has been condoned off by dozens of fierce looking soldiers, anti-riots policemen and other complementary security agents who are jointly patrolling the city ahead of the much awaited results of the just concluded governorship and state assembly elections. 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday suspended all electoral processes in the governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers until further notice.The electoral body made the suspension public in a statement in Abuja by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye.

According to Okoye, the action was due to widespread violence and disruptions that characterised the Saturday’s elections in the state.He said that based on reports from INEC officials on the field, the commission had determined that there had been widespread disruption of the elections.“These initial reports suggest that violence occurred in a substantial number of polling units and collation centres; staff have been taken hostage and materials, including result sheets, have either been seized or destroyed by unauthorised persons.

“In addition, safety of our staff appears to be in jeopardy all over the state and the commission is concerned about the credibility of the process.“Consequently, at a meeting held on Sunday, March 10, the commission decided to suspend all electoral processes in the state until further notice. This is in line with Section 26 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and Clause 47(e) of the Regulations and Guidelines of the Commission.

“The commission has also established a fact-finding committee to assess the situation and report back within 48 hours,’’ Okoye said.
According to a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report, the commission appealed to the people of Rivers, particularly voters, for their understanding as it looks into the circumstances of the disruptions and what further action needed to be taken.Rivers with 23 local government areas has 4,442 polling units and 3,215,273 registered voters out of who 2,833,101 persons collected their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVC).

In a reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned what it described as the “confiscation’’ of the Rivers governorship election results and demanded the immediate release of the outcome to avert serious crisis.The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja said that the party completely condemned the subversive action by soldiers, who were alleged to have seized and diverted the results to army barracks in Port Harcourt.He called on all lovers of democracy to unite against the “brazen attack” on Nigeria’s democracy, saying such “barefaced assault is only akin to a coup d’état and should not be allowed to stand.”

He said that Nigerians watched in bewilderment as soldiers, in the company of alleged All Progressives Congress (APC) thugs, invaded polling units in Rivers, unleashed violence on voters, disrupted polling processes and hauled away electoral materials.This, according to Ologbondiyan, is just because the APC is not on the ballot following its self-inflicted exclusion from the election.He said that the alleged use of soldiers to ambush the electoral process and confiscate results was an extreme scheme by the APC to enmesh the Rivers governorship election in controversy, seeing that there was no way they could take away victory from the PDP.