INEC Postpones Rivers Re-Run Elections Again

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has again postponed the legislative re-run elections in Rivers.

News Agency of Nigeria report continues:

This is contained in a statement issued on in Abuja on Tuesday by the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs Augusta Ogakwu.

Ogakwu said the election earlier moved from March 16 to July 30, 2016 was again postponed due to reports of violence.

She did not fix a new date for the re-run elections.

According to her, the incidence of violence in a number of local government areas and the atmosphere of fear and intimidation posed danger in proceeding with the election as earlier scheduled.

“This situation is now worsened by direct attacks on the commission, of which the most recent and glaring was the burning down of the INEC office in Khana LGA on July 22, 2016.

“As a responsible organization and conscious of the violence, maiming and fatalities which accompanied the previous election in March as well as developments in the state since then, the commission cannot ignore such reports.

“In the circumstance, therefore, it is compelled to further postpone the re-run legislative elections in Rivers state.

“One of the principal conditions earlier stipulated for the return of the state for the conclusion of the election has regrettably, not been met’’, she added.

The commission, however, restated its readiness to create a level playing field for all stakeholders to participate in the electoral process.

“It has a responsibility to also ensure that voters, electoral personnel, observers and other stakeholders are not exposed to undue threats to their lives.

“The commission wishes to reassure all voters and stakeholders that it is ready to conclude the elections within the shortest time possible once the security situation is conducive for the conduct of peaceful polls.’

PDP Violence Made INEC Postpone Rivers Elections – APC

The Punch reports that All Progressives Congress in Rivers on Tuesday expressed its disappointment at the postponement of the July 30 rerun election in the state, blaming the shift on the Peoples Democratic Party’s violent antics.

The APC, in a statement by its spokesman, Senibo Chris Finebone, said the postponement would further deny the Rivers State people parliamentary representations at both national and state.

The APC blamed the Governor Nyesom Wike-led administration for inciting hate and violence which culminated in the burning down of INEC office in Khana.

The statement said, “Considering the reasons adduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] for the postponement, the APC believes that had members of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] led by Governor Nyesom Wike abandoned their official policy of resorting to violence as a tool for seeking political power, the postponement of the rerun elections would have been unnecessary. Indeed, we blame the postponement on the sustained violence and killings orchestrated by the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] in Rivers State.”

“The latest of the string of violence the PDP has been perpetrating in the State is the burning down of INEC office in Bori last Friday morning after Gov. Nyesom Wike’s hate speech against INEC and APC leaders a few hours earlier at Okehi.

“Just before the March 19 rerun elections, Gov Nyesom Wike employed the use of hate speech as his battle cry, calling on his followers to stop Senator Magnus Abe. Days later, the Senator’s campaign office in Bori was bombed and burnt down. Last Thursday, Gov. Nyesom Wike was at his game once again.

“Speaking at his party’s Rivers East PDP campaign rally at Okehi, Etche LGA, Gov. Wike let out his usual battle cry and less than 24 hours later, those believed to be his foot soldiers bombed and burnt down the INEC office in Bori, the South-East senatorial zonal headquarters of Senator Magnus Abe. A critical look at the modus operandi of the two bombings reveal close similarities and imprints, suggesting that those responsible for the first bombing most likely undertook the latest arson on the INEC office.

“The APC finds it curious that as soon as the INEC facility was bombed in Bori, the most virulent critic of INEC, Gov. Nyesom Wike, turned around to offer the electoral umpire a Greek gift to the effect that INEC could relocate to the Khana Council. It does not call for any strenuous reasoning to conclude that PDP members know more than they are telling the world about the bombing of the INEC office in Bori in order to force the electoral umpire to relocate to a PDP facility. Why did Gov. Wike not provide the INEC office same security that he says the Council enjoys?

“The APC calls on the Inspector-General of Police, Director-General of the Department of State Services [DSS], the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command and other security agencies to diligently investigate, fish out and prosecute all those who may have a hand in the spate of killings, arson and violence in Rivers State.

“Wholesome peace must be restored in Rivers State so that violence does not continue to be a reason to deny the people representation in the political milieu.”