The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to end its manipulative schemes and immediately declare the result of the March 9, 2019 Rivers state governorship election.
The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, rejected the decision by INEC to suspend the electoral process in the state, after results have been collated.
INEC said it was suspending the collation indefinitely due to violence.
There were heated arguments between soldiers and police officers at INEC headquarters in Port Harcourt over who would take charge of security during the collation.
Soldiers ordered police officers out of the headquarters but the police officers resisted leading to a prolonged fracas.
But the PDP said that what happened wad a premeditated plan by the APC-led Federal Government to use the instrument of INEC and security agencies to truncate the wishes of the Rivers people as already delivered at the polling units.
“Our party contends that elections have been concluded in Rivers state; results of the Governorship and House of Assembly polls have been declared at the various polling units, wards and local government collation centers and all returning officers and political parties in the ballot conclusively have the figures.
“It is therefore directly incumbent on INEC to declare the final results instead of deliberately creating openings for the subversion of the final process; a development, which exposes the Commission’s complicity with the Buhari Presidency and the APC to enmesh the election into unnecessary crisis.
“Our party cautions INEC to note that a lot of innocent Nigerians have already been killed by the APC in its desperation to forcefully take over Rivers state. The commission should therefore save the state from more bloodletting by immediately declaring the results.
“Furthermore, the PDP calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to reflect on the bloodlettings that have characterized this election, which many Nigerians believe, would have been averted if he had signed the Amendment to the Electoral Act.
” Mr. President should immediately call the security agencies (who have been annexed as departments of the APC) to end their siege to our electoral process. Any further delay is a recipe for escalation of crisis in our nation”
