Tonye Cole says the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) should conduct fresh governorship and
house of assembly elections in Rivers state.
Cole was the gubernatorial
candidate of a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state
before the party was disqualified by the courts.
Before the general election, the
supreme court had affirmed the verdict of an appeal court which upheld the
decision of a lower court that nullified the primary polls of APC in Rivers.
Based on this circumstance, APC
could not field candidates during the election that was held on March 9.
The election which was marred
with violence among other irregularities was declared inconclusive.
The electoral commission has
fixed between April 2 and 5 to resume collation and April 13 for supplementary
polls “where necessary”.
In a statement on Friday, Cole
said Rivers is the only state “the courts silenced almost all political
opposition to an incumbent, nearly making way for a walkover election”.
Cole, who is of the faction of
Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, said it would be “grossly
irresponsible to proceed with concluding an electoral process that hardly
anyone believes in.”
“We are the only state that is
yet to conclude an election three weeks after voters went to the polls. We are
the only State that armed militants and the military faced off violently. We
are the only State that continues to be a cause of deep concern to the
international community,” he said.
“We are the only state that the
electoral body is being brazenly accused of unparalleled bias. We are the only
State that is openly labeled as electorally violent. We are sick and tired of
these negative headlines.
“In this atmosphere, it would be
grossly irresponsible to proceed with concluding an electoral process that
hardly anyone believes in.
“One side accused the security
agencies of conspiring to steal the elections while the other side was accused
of using the independent electoral institution to hijack the electoral process
and steal the mandate. In the wake of the accusations, all driven by what
politicians fear the most, which is FEAR itself, we saw death visit us as a
people and destruction lay siege on our communities.
“Like politicians are want to do,
each side was quick to blame the other where the one with more money and
influence with the media ends up shaping the narrative that the world sees,
hears and ultimately believes.
“INEC must therefore declare the
entire elections of March 9th null and void and set out a new date for fresh
elections.”
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