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Declare Wike governor-elect, PDP tells INEC, CSOs seek protection of commission’s staff

By Ann Godwin (Port Harcourt), Matthew Ogune (Abuja) and Emmanuel Ande (Yola)
14 March 2019   |   3:13 am
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Nyesom Wike as the state’s governor-elect.

Wike

• Adamawa opposition cautions Buhari against conniving with Bindow to rape constitution
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Nyesom Wike as the state’s governor-elect.

It insisted that the results declared so far by INEC electoral officers at the various polling units in the state showed that PDP was in a clear lead in the national and state Assembly elections.State party Chairman, Felix Obuah, who sang victory songs with PDP stalwarts, winners of national and state Assembly polls yesterday, insisted that the results showed that PDP was victorious in Rivers State and urged INEC to declare Wike governor-elect.

He said, “Available results so far from all polling units and constituencies where the elections were concluded confirmed and reaffirmed that Rivers State is a PDP state and that Wike won convincingly, therefore, INEC should not waste time in declaring Wike the winner.

“We are not worried about what some people are saying; the truth is that with the results from the field, the incumbent governor should be declared governor-elect.”Obuah pointed out that in spite of the arrests, harassment and violence against democratic rights of Rivers people by soldiers and F-SARs personnel, the people still came out to express their franchise.

However, a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has sought protection for INEC and its staff from further pressure and intimidation over the Rivers State gubernatorial and state Assembly elections.They also enjoined all stakeholders to acknowledge the priority of Rivers State, adding that safety of lives and property was paramount and that necessary steps should be taken to prevent further violence and loss of lives in the state.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja issued by Executive Director of Cleen Foundation, Benson Olugbuo, the CSOs stated that they supported election observation activities in Rivers during the recently concluded polls and noticed that there were repeated abuses that impacted voters and ad-hoc and permanent staff of INEC.

Meanwhile, the leadership of PDP Adamawa State has appealed to president Muhammadu Buhari not to dent his image by supporting governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow’s alleged plan to use a state high court to stop INEC from conducting the supplementary election slated for March 23, 2019.

Addressing journalists yesterday in Yola, state Chairman of PDP, Tahir Shehu, said since election was conducted in the state, no court outside election petitions tribunal has powers to entertain such petition, pointing out that the court could only handle pre-election matters and not post-election issues.

“Mr. President, as father of all Nigerians and at your age, nobody should drag your reputation to the mud. Ask Bindow why he lost his re-election if he is popular in Adamawa as he claims,” he stated.

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