NAWAOH! Poll: Rivers residents suffer Tension over election saga

 

L-R: Peterside, Amaechi and Wike

The governorship and House of Assembly elections holding today will be another test for Rivers State, which has been plagued by political uncertainty and violence, writes CHUKWUDI AKASIKE

Rivers State has no doubt taken the front seat as one of the states that have been enmeshed in an intractable political crisis. For the past two years, the state has been embroiled in one problem or the order, a development that has unarguably set it backward. Pundits had predicted that only the 2015 elections would put an end to the man-made crisis that is almost hitting the foundation the Treasure Base of the Nation stands on.

But with the current trend of disagreement among politicians in the state, the political uncertainty may linger even after the elections. While the State House of Assembly complex has remained under lock and key with armoured vehicle parked at the main entrance and the judiciary workers still on strike, Rivers does not look like a state that will soon come out of the woods.

The latest among the numerous problems bedevilling the state is the conduct of the Presidential and the National Assembly elections, which many had termed controversial. The elections as conducted in the state were characterised by violence with about four persons losing their lives. While the Peoples Democratic Party, which won the March 28, 2015 election in the state, had rated the conduct of the poll as decent, the All Progressives Congress described it as a sham, maintaining that the exercise was marred by massive thumb-printing of ballot papers by agents of the PDP.

Expressing serious discontent over the conduct of the elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission, the state chapter of the APC called for the removal of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Gesila Khan, and the cancellation of the poll. Whereas the ruling party in the state maintained that the result of the election was cooked and not a reflection of the wishes of the people, the PDP insisted that the outcome of the polls was the reflection of the people’s desire. The PDP in the state scored 1,487,075 while the APC polled 69,238 to come a distant second.

The most visible reaction of APC supporters was the protest at the main gate of INEC office in the state. Surprisingly, the protest was led by the governorship candidate of the APC, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who will today (Saturday) slug it out with his counterpart from the PDP, Chief Nyesom Wike. Apart from Peterside, the lawmaker representing the Rivers South-East, Senator Abe, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Emma Chinda, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Chief Tony Okocha, and others stood for about three hours at the front of the commission’s office along the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway.

Their demand, which appeared not to be a simple one, was for the REC to be removed for conducting an alleged flawed presidential and National Assembly polls. Before the protest, the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, had expressed dissatisfaction over the refusal of INEC official at each polling unit to show result sheets to the voters.

The governor at a point exchanged words with the Brigade Commander, 2 Brigade, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, Brig.-Gen. Essien Essien, who told him not to drive around during election since he had not been accredited by INEC. The drama in Amaechi hometown, Ubima, Ikwerre Local Government Area, continued until the governor went back to the Government House in Port Harcourt after claiming that soldiers blocked his way to his father’s house.

Speaking with journalists outside the INEC office, Peterside explained that there was no election in the state, adding that the REC played a “key” role in subverting the will of the people. The state APC governorship candidate pointed out that people did not vote after observing that the result sheets, where the scores of each candidate would be written, were not available.

He said, “What you are seeing here are registered voters, who are supporters of the APC. They are here to protect the fact that they were not allowed to exercise their franchise. They got to their various polling units only to discover that there were no result sheets and without the result sheets, the election cannot be conducted in compliance with the Electoral Law.

“Results were not collated at the various local government areas; we later heard that results are being collated at various homes around the city of Port Harcourt and the suburbs. We are here to register our protest. There were no elections in Rivers State and violence was visited on our people. Over 10 persons died in various locations in Rivers State. Over 65 of our members were arrested by the police and the military.”

Peterside, however, stated that it was wrong to seek for the cancellation of the election and maintained that no election was held in the state.

Also, the lawmaker representing Rivers South-East in the National Assembly and the APC senatorial candidate in the last election, Senator Magnus Abe, accused the police and the military of bias. Abe specifically said he saw some INEC officials, who were thumb-printing in favour of the PDP, adding that when the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Gokana Local Government Area, Mr. Kadilo Kabari, raised the alarm, a group of policemen descended on him. He added that the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, would have conducted a fair and credible election than the state REC.

The lawmaker said, “I was nearly killed. I am from Ward 16 in Gokana Local Government Area. There was no election in my ward. In Gokana, there was no election. People could not vote. Even when people were accredited, when they wanted to vote and they asked of the result sheets to collate whatever they voted, there was none. People came, shot guns and carted away the materials.

“So, I went to the police station with my local government council chairman to brief the SSS and when we got there, we discovered that INEC staff and PDP members were there in the police station thumb-printing ballot papers. The council chairman then called the police to ask what was happening in his station. For daring to raise the alarm, hoodlums descended on him. He is currently in the hospital.”

But the state chapter of the PDP disagreed with the call by the APC for fresh elections, describing the action as behaviour of bad losers.

In a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the state chairman of the PDP, Mr. Jerry Needam, the party denied allegation of violence against APC members.

According to him, such allegation was diversionary and orchestrated by the APC to disrupt the election when it became clear that the PDP was coasting to victory.

The statement said, “It is the APC that has been perpetrating violence in the state. A few examples will show. In Gokana Local Government Area, armed members of the APC in Bera, hometown of Senator Magnus Abe and Chief Victor Giadom, went to the home of one of the PDP stalwarts and the former PDP governorship aspirant, Mr. Dumbari Ben-Dimkpa, also from Bera and burnt down the house.

“They also set ablaze all his cars, went to his filling station, also in Bera and destroyed all the pumps and other property there. The Chairman, Caretaker Committee of Khana Local Government Area, Mr. Derek Mene, in company of armed APC men, also unleashed mayhem in the area.”

The state PDP nevertheless hailed the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.

It described the conduct of the March 28 elections as credible and that the result reflected the wish of the people to support President Goodluck Jonathan and candidates of the party. State Chairman of the PDP, Mr. Felix Obuah, said Rivers remained a traditional PDP state.

“Rivers is a traditional PDP state and even if the elections are conducted a million times, the PDP will win here. Was the APC expecting Rivers people to vote for another presidential candidate other than President Jonathan? That must be wishful thinking,” Obuah said.

At least, four persons, including a soldier, were shot dead by some gunmen in Obio/Akpor, Tai, Eleme and Ikwerre LGAs of the state. In his rating of the conduct of the election, a public affairs analyst and the Chancellor, International Society for Social Justice, Dr. Jackson Omenazu, explained that the exercise in Rivers was flawed even before the commencement of the election.

Omenazu explained that security agencies did not help matters as some members of the APC were arrested even a day to the election for no just cause.

He said, “The election was totally flawed, even before it commenced. People, especially APC members were arrested with trumped-up charges. There is nothing free and fair election in it because the necessary tools like the result sheets were not made available. The state REC has shown that she is partial and should be replaced by someone who appreciates the meaning of a free and fair election.”

On the other hand, the National Coordinator, Niger Delta Youth Initiative for Positive Change, Mr. David Ato, insisted that there was nowhere in the world where a perfect election is conducted, adding that INEC should only try and improve on its performance in the state.

He said, “There are no perfect elections anywhere in the world and that is why I am saying that the call for the removal of the state REC is not necessary. Let us hope that INEC will improve in the governorship and National Assembly elections.”

But there is no doubt that there is tension across the state ahead of today’s polls. Few days to the April 11, 2015 elections, a former council Chairman of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, Chief Christopher Adube, and three members of his family were mowed down in what was suspected to be a high profile politically motivated killings. Since then, the fear of not being hit by gunmen’s bullet has doubled and may make it impossible for the electorate to turn out en masse and vote today.