The Coalition of Governorship Candidates in Rivers State has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of plotting to sabotage the forthcoming Governorship and State Assembly elections in Rivers State.
This is as the coalition condemned the alleged militarization of the just-concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state, which led to the killing of innocent people as well as the snatching of ballot boxes and harassment of electoral officers in no fewer that nine local government areas in the state.
Addressing newsmen in Port Harcourt yesterday, Chairman of the group, Samuel Ihunwo, said credible intelligence at their disposal indicates that the APC has compromised INEC to exclude the name and logo of one of the political parties from the ballot papers for the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Rivers State.
Ihunwo further said based on the intelligence, the affected political party would proceed to the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to inevitably nullify the outcomes of the March 9, 2019, Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State.
He said: “While the people of Rivers State are yet to recover from the pains and trauma of awful violence and bloodletting that characterized last week’s general elections, we have intercepted yet another heinous plan to deliberately sabotage the March 9th 2019 Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State in order to advance the partisan interest of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a party that is not on the ballot for the said elections.
“According to credible intelligence, the APC has successfully compromised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to exclude the name and logo of one of the political parties from the ballot papers for the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Rivers State.
“Afterwards, the supposedly excluded political party would proceed to the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to inevitably nullify the outcomes of the March 9th Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State.
“We are astonished at INEC motivations for becoming an accessory to such treacherous acts, which offer the most simple but lethal legal ground and weapon to any mischievous person or political party to nullify the said elections and terminate the rights of Rivers people to enjoy the fruits of their votes in the Governorship and Houses of Assembly elections.
“Equally worrisome is the report that where INEC fails to effect the exclusion of the designated political party from the ballot papers by Wednesday 6th March 2019, the alternative plan is to resort again, to the use of the army to disrupt, disorganize and scuttle the distribution of election materials from the State Registration Area Centres to the various wards and units across the entire State.
“Furthermore, in the event that the elections manages to hold, the plan also includes using operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to harass and force electoral and collation officers to cooperate and comply with the rigging template and directives of the APC.
“Of course, the partisan involvement and subversive activities of the army, especially the General Officer Commanding the 6 Division of the Nigeria Army, Mayjor General Jamil Sarham and his unpatriotic band of soldiers in last week’s Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections are well known to the entire world.
“Indeed, it is on record that the disruption and snatching of elections materials at Okrika was led by one Captain Inuwa, the Aide De Camp to the GOC 6 Division of the Nigeria Army, Major General Sarham.”
