Mohammed Nalado, the National Chairman of Accord, has said that the ruling of a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt which mandated the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to expunge the name of Dumo Lulu-Briggs from the ballot will not stand.
The party chair also confirmed that the All Progressives Congress was working with his party to ensure the victory of its candidate at the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Nalado, who stated this while addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, also explained that Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs remained its candidate in the election following the withdrawal of Amieye Nelson, who won the party’s governorship primary.
He urged the people of the state to disregard the statement credited to a former chairman of the party in the state, Mr. Precious Barido, claiming that Accord had endorsed the candidature of Governor Nyesom Wike, for the March 9 polls.
He also said the court verdict in favour of Barido to contest the governorship election in Rivers State on the platform of Accord would not stand because the party had appealed the case, hence the status quo remained.
Nalado said, “The party never at any time submitted Barido’s name or particulars to INEC as our candidate. The party duly submitted the name of Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs as its candidate.
“The APC is actually working with Accord in Rivers State to ensure that our candidate wins the governorship election next week. We have signed a pact with the APC to support them where they have candidate while they will support us where they do not have candidates.”