The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has accused the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with the
Nigeria Police and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the
forthcoming legislative rerun in the state.
Wike,
a vocal critic of the APC-led administration of President Muhammadu
Buhari, specifically accused the party of printing fake result sheets
and other election materials inside a building located at No. 12,
Isiokpo Street, D-Line, Port Harcourt.
Speaking with newsmen at
the State House in Port Harcourt, the governor decried the reluctance of
the police to charge the members of the APC allegedly behind the crime
to court, Punch writes.
“Yesterday,
we burst the gang that has been printing ballot papers and result
sheets for elections that have been suspended. You can see why we are
saying that INEC is colluding with the APC to rig the election. But INEC
has been saying it is because of insecurity,” he said.
“These
people (the APC members) are aware of the units where the elections
will take place. Meanwhile, INEC has not told us the units where the
rerun elections will be conducted. The APC had gone ahead to print
sensitive materials for the senatorial, House of Representatives and
House of Assembly elections.”
The governor, who claimed the
police was given a video evidence of the crime, reaffirmed his earlier
stance that the PDP in the state would resist any attempt to rig the
rerun election, saying Rivers is not Edo and Ondo states.
“Let the public know that the PDP will resist any attempt by INEC to rig the December 10 election, he asserted.
“They want us to fold our arms and allow them to smuggle in fake result sheets.
“If
you rig the rerun election, you rig your life. Let me tell the INEC
commissioner that if they like, let them bring in the Marines, INEC
should not take us for a ride. We will not allow it. Do the right thing
and conduct a free and fair election.”
Meanwhile, the state Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr. Chris Finebone, has dismissed the allegations as “contrived”.
“The
idea of the PDP is to plant election materials in some homes of
individuals claiming they are the APC members so as to take some of our
chieftains out of circulation before the rerun election,” he said.
“Their
target is to paint Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and Dr. Dakuku
Peterside black. For us, they should come forth and show us proof.
Security agents should come up to tell us if the operation was genuine
or not.”
Similarly, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, has described Wike’s allegation as unfounded.
Speaking
through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, Yakubu said
Governor Wike should desist from “throwing stones at INEC at the
slightest opportunity.”
“Governor Wike’s allegations are
baseless and unfortunate. INEC is a responsible organisation that takes
its responsibilities very seriously.
“The commission
could not have been aware of such a criminal act. I will advise the
governor to stop throwing stones at INEC at the slightest opportunity.”
He added that the Police were well equipped to handle the case and that it was too early to reach a conclusion on the matter.
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