Rep alleges hacking of INEC database in Rivers State

A member of the House of Representatives, Chidi Wihioka, has alleged hacking of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s database in Rivers State.

The lawmaker, representing Emohua/Ikwerre Federal Constituency, said the act would disenfranchise voters in the state.

Wihioka stated this yesterday at the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s stakeholders extraordinary meeting in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

According to him, the names of many members of the party whom INEC issued their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) to participate in the 2015 general elections and the 2016 legislative rerun, have been expunged from the database.

He declared that he would ensure that the National Assembly conducts a thorough investigation into the issue to avert the disenfranchising prospective voters in the state.

He said: “INEC gave us PVCs, which we used in 2015 and 2016. How is it possible that the same cards are no longer in the commission’s database? I will take it up at the National Assembly for investigation.

Also at the meeting, Senator Magus Abe, representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for his courageous stand on the constitutional issue of elected party officials.

He said the president’s position has shown that the APC is a political party that respects the true tenets of internal democracy and the dictates of the law.

He urged members of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to place the interest of the party above every other consideration and abide by the president’s informed position.

Abe stressed that such was necessary to conduct congresses across all strata of the party, in conformity with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the APC’s Constitution.

The senator, who is aspiring to contest in the 2019 governorship in Rivers State, announced the setting up of a five-man outreach and reconciliation committee headed by Senator Wilson Ake, and former House of Assembly member, Adokiye Oruwari.

The committee was mandated to mend all broken fences within the party ahead of the 2019 polls.

He said: “If we continue the way we are going without trying to reach out to mend fences within the party and forge a common direction, we might be shortchanging ourselves and the hopes of Rivers people.

The former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Chibudom Nwuche, commended Abe’s activism and revival of the party, which, he said was almost dead in the state.

Nwuche explained that he joined the APC with the intent to add value to it, which was however, misconstrued by those who felt threatened.