The All Progressives Congress in Rivers State has expressed mixed feelings over the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, timeline for concluding the governorship and state assembly elections that started on March 9.
The APC maintained that as a major stakeholder in the Rivers State political space, INEC has not shown sufficient good faith in the way it brought the collation to an abrupt stop without cogent, verifiable and convincing reasons.
Speaking to newsmen in Port Harcourt, Chris Finebone, expressed concern that a supposed electoral umpire went ahead to announce that collation for seventeen local government areas had been concluded as against the records provided by the party’s situation room.
Finebone said APC suspects that INEC is up to some mischief, saying that the party will subject the recent announcement by INEC to careful scrutiny after which the party’s position will further be made public.
According to Finebone, “INEC curiously announced that it has dropped four LGA Collation Officers confirmed to be PDP card-carrying members without the umpire clearing the air about the status of the LGA results that the four ad hoc personnel supposedly collated.
“So many questions come to mind. Could the four collation officers be unfit for the job while the collations they conducted are acceptable?
“Of course, that cannot be! Why is INEC jittery or afraid to name the 17 LGAs if not for the simple reason that some underhand dealings might have taken place for which it is covering up?
“With the violation of the collation process at the Obio/Akpor Collation Centre where government agents shot an Army captain and other soldiers in the process, why does it seem that INEC’s body language is suggesting that Obio/Akpor collation has been completed?
“To the APC, INEC is up to some mischief clearly pointing to a clear determination to rig the overall result of the March 9 elections in favour of Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP.
“The signs are visible enough to the blind and loud enough to the deaf. All the shenanigans so far exhibited by INEC only go to confirm that fear.
“In any case, the APC will subject the recent announcement by INEC to meticulous scrutiny after which the party’s position will further be made public.”
Comments