The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, has decried what he described as the high level of voter intimidation in the state March 18 governorship election.

Cole spoke on alleged irregularities that greeted the Rivers governorship election in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

He alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) piloted a dominance of voter suppression that affected the turnout of voters in Rivers.

The APC candidate claimed voters were whipped and threatened to forcefully vote for PDP, adding that government officials and security personnel took control of ballot boxes in various polling units.

According to Cole, the election was not equitable, arguing that a free and fair election without any form of voter suppression would prove that Rivers is not a PDP state.

He said, “There was a build-up of intimidation, voters were intimidated. They were told not to come out, whips were bought, people were whipped. Town criers went into communities, saying that nobody should come out.

“[They said] if they came out, they will be dealt with. Voter intimidation was very heavy, so that brought down the number of people coming out to vote because they were scared.

“In some cases, before the counting of the votes occurred, police came and – this was shocking – local government chairmen and councillors were coming with their vans with the police.”

According to him, the authorities took all the electoral materials in the polling unit away and there was very little they could do.

The APC candidate added that the only other option he and his supporters had to resist what they saw coming would have amounted to an escalation into violence.

Cole described Rivers as a “hijacked PDP state,” alleging that he was attacked by the opposition.

He further stated, “They came and carried the entire polling unit away (sic) and took them to an unknown destination and the next thing we saw is that these results were uploaded.

“We knew that it was going to happen because we had heard it in a small political environment and so we knew that there were plans to kidnap [people]. We saw people come into the polling unit who were strange.

“There was not enough security to counter that in any case, it was a national election, and security was widespread. We had choices and one of the choices that we had was to arm and equip our own side equally, but this was going to escalate into bloodshed, and death and we chose not to.”

“I would have loved this to be tested without intimidation, without violence and just allow a free and fair election to hold. The violence and the ability to rig has kept Rivers State a PDP state since 1999,” he said.

“People wanted to vote differently and it was the fear of allowing free and fair elections that would have shown that Rivers State was not a PDP state.”

adekusibe10:
Which party we go vote

Beremx:
But ehn, how’s Atiku a Fulani? I thought he’s purely a Hausa man?

Wizmj4real:



IN YOUR DREAMS!

POWER WILL REMAIN IN THE NORTH UNTIL THE SOUTH GET SENSE OF UNITY

limeta:
I can't be a part of this
I ask forgiveness from God for my support of ipob/esn/ugm
What is right is right this is not the way to do things

mrvitalis:
This same lies over and over again when osibanjo was acting president which change did you feel about from media propaganda making you think u felt change

Osibanjo has shown that his loyalty to Buhari is more than his loyalty to Nigerians

That aside what has osibanjo achieved in his personal life that's exceptional ?.

Becoming a prof without PhD ? We all know SAN is political ...so what's his achievements

Idiko1:
Might be the worst governor the state has produced. His utterances do not represent the mind of an educated figure. He should stay away from the Biafra and IPOB matter. It is not Anambra State issue but Nigeria.

leicestercamper:
Miserable frustrated aba pig. What has become of Obiano? At least he transformed his state, built international airport, international convention centre, stadium, roads, bridges, flyovers, hospitals, schools, etc.

What has your useless governors in abia state achieved since 1999? Nothing. You ediots reward failures in your backward state. Leave Anambra alone and focus on your backward state.

Fool, tell abaribe to go and negotiate Nnamdi Kanu’s release. You miscreants should leave Obiano alone.


[s][/s]

Osagyefo98:


You ar from Abia state and now telling us those behind terrorist Igbos.

No sane human supports Igbos. The only pi supporting them are their fellow touts,thugs and cultists.

More you abians should tell us ur business on how soludo decides to govern his state.

Face yours and pray for your disaster ikpeazu to succeed...ozu.

mrvitalis:

Try visit uyo first ooh ..that guy is a media propaganda expect nothing come out

The development has all but guaranteed the vice-president’s battle against Bola Tinubu, a towering political entity of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

AYOOLA BABALOLA • JANUARY 4, 2022

Vice President Oluyemi Osinbajo has informed President Muhammadu Buhari of his intention to run for president in 2023 and sought the blessing of his principal who did not make immediate commitments, Peoples Gazette can report.

Mr Osinbajo’s move came when he met with Mr Buhari on New Year’s Day with the mindset that his ambition will see a gradual but consistent upswing if moored to honesty and uprightness from the beginning, according to three administration officials familiar with the development.

“The Vice-President did not want to go into the election year by hiding a plan which the president had probably already known about,” a national security aide told The Gazette on Monday night under anonymity because the parley was not approved for public consumption. “He knew that an immediate endorsement of the president, on the other hand, may not be so easy to come by.”

Mr Osinbajo said he was not looking to ambush and railroad the president into endorsing him and has long acknowledged that it might take uncommon fortitude to tilt the president’s support towards himself, according to the official who was present at the meeting.

“But he would continue to make efforts to see if he could get the president’s backing nonetheless,” our source added. “It is inherently crucial.”

Haunting audio

It remained unclear when Mr Osinbajo first made up his mind about running for president, but sources said his chances of getting his principal’s support became complicated after he was allegedly recorded discussing how Mr Buhari was not likely to make it through his presidency and gloated about how he would succeed him.

“The president has been in possession of an audio recording of the vice-president talking about how he will gain power in the manner similar to Goodluck Jonathan’s fluke,” another senior presidency official said. “That is why most of us loyal to the president are not supporting the vice-president’s ambition.”

“The president told some of us to consider our political interest individually,” the source added. “But we all know his body language since he listened to the tape has been more than clear.”

Although The Gazette was unable to obtain the audio or its certified excerpts, a senior civil servant at the presidency corroborated its existence, but strongly disputed its context.

“It’s over a year since I heard that there was an audio in which the vice-president talked about succeeding the president, but it is not true that he was wishing death on the president so he could take over,” the source said.

“The vice-president was only complaining about being undermined by key loyalists of the president. He also said some of them will immediately switch to his side should he succeed the president,” the official said. “The vice-president did not pray for the president to die as people are insinuating about that audio.”

The official said “certainly” when The Gazette asked him whether or not the audio circulated amongst presidency officials.

“Those who were senior enough to know about the audio knew about it,” he said.

‘Better alternative’

Spokespersons for Messrs Buhari and Osinbajo were contacted for comments on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Osinbajo, 64, will likely run on his credentials as a better educated, more acquainted leader than Mr Buhari. He received accolades when he briefly acted as president in 2017 as Mr Buhari was receiving treatment abroad for nagging ear infections and and other complications that remained undisclosed. He was seen as a unifying figure when he led the country for a few months that year.

Whereas Mr Osinbajo has kept his ambition away from the public, relying on outside political loyalists to help push his case on social media, his latest discussion with Mr Buhari has all but guaranteed his battle against Bola Tinubu, a former Lagos governor and towering political entity of the ruling All Progressives Congress. Mr Tinubu, who helped Mr Osinbajo clinch the vice-presidential slot in 2015, is preparing to announce his run for president later this month, although dates have not been formally announced.

“We are pushing for the vice-president because Asiwaju Tinubu cannot be easily sold to Nigerian people because of how damaged he had become over the years,” an aide to Mr Osinbajo said on Monday evening. “But, most importantly, you will agree with me that it is easy for the vice-president to present himself as the better alternative.”

To beat back Mr Osinbajo, Mr Tinubu has been counting on Mr Buhari’s support, as well as forging consensus amongst northern political players.