₦airaland Forum

The Rivers State House of Assembly Friday passed a resolution authorising the state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to obtain a N10 billion loan from the Excess Crude Account (ECA).

The approval came as a result of a letter to the assembly by the governor.

Wike had said in the letter dated April 5, 2016, that the loan would be used to fund some development projects in the state.

The letter read in part: “You are aware of the huge infrastructure development challenge and our efforts to address the situation. Since we came on board, we have not only remobilised all contractors handling major road sites, but have also awarded new contracts for the construction and reconstruction of new roads and other projects.”

NgeneUkwenu:
This your ranting won't stop us from arresting and prosecuting Fayose, whenever his immunity is up...

The Rivers State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said after a careful study of the facts on ground, it has come out with a conclusion that what took place on March 19 was not the expected rerun State and National Assembly elections but mere allocation of votes to the ruling party in the State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The party said INEC officials did so to avoid being killed by Wike and his gang of killers.

The party in a statement signed by its State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, outrightly rejected the results so far announced by INEC, saying that nothing but the total cancellation of the process and the holding of fresh rerun polls would be acceptable to it.

“We wish to put on record our total and uncompromising rejection of the results of the March 19, 2016 rerun elections so far announced by INEC as these do not in any way reflect the current political realities on ground in Rivers State.
These results, which indicate a mysterious landslide victory for PDP, were allocated to the ruling party in the State following unrelenting threats by Governor Nyesom Wike to the effect that anybody coming to conduct any election that would not favour PDP should first write their wills before coming to the State.

“The effect of these threats and their practical demonstration as seen in how people were burnt, beheaded and buried alive during the rerun elections can clearly be seen in the shameful manner INEC is awarding victory to PDP,” Rivers APC said.

The party in the statement issued on Sunday in Port Harcourt said there was nothing different between what happened on March 19, 2016 and during the widely discredited elections of March 28 and April 11, 2015 cancelled by the courts, which also ordered the rerun elections.

It said this was not a coincidence considering that the apparatus used for both elections were basically the same.

“From the Police leadership to most of the INEC officials and INEC ad-hoc staff, the characters that organised the 2015 general elections were the same characters that organised the March 19, 2016 rerun elections and it will be foolhardy to expect any different result. All these characters were set up by the former disgraced PDP administration rejected by Nigerians during the 2015 polls”, Rivers APC said.

It berated Governor Wike for claiming that APC was not in a position to win an election in the State, and for accusing Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, of sponsoring violence to remain politically relevant.

“Everyone knows that Wike is the one who has been sponsoring violence in Rivers State and not Amaechi,” the party said, adding: “If Amaechi did not employ violence as Governor of Rivers State to stop Wike from succeeding him in 2015, is it now that he is far away in Abuja as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that he would do so?
“Rather than the vain attempt to drag his name into the mud, Amaechi should be commended for not encouraging APC members to retaliate the wanton killing of its members by PDP, which would have turned Rivers State into another Somalia.

“If Wike feels that he is very popular let him allow free and fair election devoid of his gang of killers and he will see how he is hated in Rivers State.

Time will tell the heroic role played by Amaechi in this dispensation. As we watch the macabre dance in Rivers State we expect the APC Government at the centre not to allow PDP to decimate our ranks any further in view of the strategic roles we played in freeing Nigeria from the inept PDP administration that would have completely grounded the country if it was reelected.”

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release some of the results in the eight local government areas it earlier cancelled in the March 19 legislative re-run elections in the state.

This is as the governor warned of imminent crisis if INEC dared to cancel results of Ikwerre Local Government, home of former Governor Chibuike Amaechi, he said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates won.

In a swift reaction, the electoral umpire said Wike’s allegations were not true and that it has no plan to declare results in places where the electoral processes were inconclusive.

In an exclusive interview with THISDAY in Port Harcourt yesterday, Wike said he had information that INEC was planning to release some of the results in the eight local government areas where the commission suspended elections.

He said: “We are now hearing that INEC wants to release some of the results of the election they cancelled in some of the eight local governments, obviously to help the APC. Don’t forget the election was cancelled around 2pm before the election process was even concluded on the 19th, the very day of the election.

“How can they have results for a process that was ongoing when it was cancelled by the same INEC? Where did the result surface from? Their claim now is that some of the results in the eight local governments they cancelled were already collated and I ask how was it possible when it was cancelled when voting was still going on by 2pm? This is fraud on the part of INEC. INEC is trying to help the APC by manipulating the result. The APC lost badly in Rivers so they want to help Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi to save his face.”

He accused INEC of trying to subvert the will of the people as expressed by the voters in the re-run elections.

“As I said before, INEC has not showed any sign that they are impartial. They have not shown signs of that. Notwithstanding, we have raised complaints and they have seen that our complaints are genuine. So why are they running away from it. Why?”

He alleged that INEC was using the cover of the suspended election to perfect plans to rig elections in the eight local government areas in favour of the APC.

He accused the INEC of causing crisis in the state and warned of dire consequences if the commission continued to favour any political party.

Wike said: “I foresee a situation where all they are doing now is to perfect a system where they will now want to rig us out. Just like I said, that will also be highly resisted. So, no one will say that there is crisis in Rivers State.

“INEC should not be causing crisis in Rivers State, INEC should allow the people’s will to prevail. I will not fold my arms and allow INEC to perfect that strategy they want to use and rig in those eight local government areas. Rivers State will still resist it. If I die in the cause of Rivers state, no big deal about that.

“If I die for it, it is a sacrifice I can make for Rivers State as Rivers State cannot be cheated any longer. Allow the people’s will; allow their mandate to stand. Don’t try to satisfy an individual whom you think might have contributed so much amount of money to a political party. The people will decide where their votes will be and so we will resist it with all it takes.”

Wike also accused INEC of deliberately refusing to release the result of elections in Ikwerre state constituency and Ikwerre/Emohua federal constituency because the APC lost in Amaechi’s home constituencies.

He said: “Yes, he (Amaechi) lost in Ikwerre Local government and that is why they are playing games; INEC is trying to play games, particularly one national commissioner, Amina Zakari. She is the brain behind all these problems you see in Rivers State. She has been tele-guiding and manipulating. In fact, I can tell that one of the monitors wrote condemning the attitude of Amaechi during that election. Amina scolded the supervisor for writing a report against Amaechi. We intercepted all those information. Indeed, most of the result swapping that INEC tried to do in Rivers State emanated from Amina Zakari.”

The governor said the people would resist any attempt by the commission to cancel the results as they had already been collated at the centres.
“So, not releasing Ikwerre is a bone on their neck. But I dare them. Let them try to say they are cancelling Ikwerre Local Government. You cannot cancel what has been collated from the unit to the ward. You cannot do that. That result must be released. If they don’t want crisis, that result must be released. We will not fold out hands. It doesn’t matter. No threat will make us to forgo that.

We trounced Amaechi in his local government. He failed. And let be said he failed. Let the whole world know that he failed. What are you protecting him for? You should protect the votes of the people and not a single individual,” Wike said.
He said the INEC was sympathising with the former governor and was shielding him from embarrassment.

“Go and check the results that have been collated. He failed. He also lost at the federal constituency level. He won’t get senate, he won’t get the federal constituency and he won’t get the state assembly. So, it is making them; let’s protect this man; it’s too embarrassing that they say he can’t even get state house of assembly.

“That is our position. INEC should release Ikwerre local government result. In fact, they must. They have no choice. Whatever they have eaten, they should send it back. Whatever they have taken from him, they should give him back,” he said.
We Do Not Crown Winners of Election, Says INEC…
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said that contrary to insinuations by some persons, the commission “does not interfere with the decisions of the electorate but only declares those who won election fair and square.”

Speaking to THISDAY in a telephone interview, the INEC Deputy Director on Media and Publicity, Mr. Nick Dazang said as far as the Rivers state re-run election is concerned; only those elections that have been concluded were returned and declared.
“INEC does not crown winners of elections as alleged. It declares those who have won fairly and squarely through transparent processes winners,” he said.

On whether the commission was about to release results from areas where elections were cancelled in Rivers state, Dazang said INEC does not intend to declare results in places where the electoral processes were inconclusive.

“As at the time elections were suspended in Rivers state, not all were concluded, consequently only those that have been concluded have been returned and declared. The outstanding ones will be conducted at a date to be scheduled by the commission,” he added.

Withholding collated results, threat to democracy, says PDP…
In a related development, the South-South zonal leadership of the PDP has urged INEC to, as a matter of urgent national important, release the remaining results of the recently concluded re-run election in Rivers State, stressing that it would greatly serve the interest of the nation’s democracy and peace.

In a statement by the South-South chairman of the PDP, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, the party strongly criticized the activities of INEC particularly in the conduct of Rivers State election.

Outstanding Constituencies
In Rivers re-run elections, 22 out of 32 state constituencies were contested; 12 out of 13 federal constituencies and 3 senatorial districts.
INEC has so far released results of 11 state constituencies and four federal constituencies.
Outside the 8 local government areas where INEC suspended elections, INEC has not released results in 3 federal constituencies, namely Bonny /Degeq00ma, Okrika /Ogu /Bolo, and Emohua /Ikwerre.

Outstanding federal constituencies in the 8 suspended local government areas are Asaritoru /Akukutoru, Etche /Omuma, Tai/Eleme /Oyigbo, Khana/Gokana, and Opobo /Nkoro/Andoni.
In the suspended areas, the outstanding state constituencies are 9, namely Assritoru 1 and 2, Etche, Tai, Eleme, Gokana, Khana 1 and 2, and Bonny.

Outstanding state constituencies outside the suspended LGAs 2, namely Bonny and Ikwerre

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Angry Youths Vandalise Rep’s House in Gombe

Some angry youths in Gombe on Friday invaded the residence of the current House of Representatives’ member for Dukku Nafada Federal Constituency, Hajiya Aishatu Jibril Dukku for alleged poor representation.

Some of the angry youths, who alleged that the woman had not been carrying them along, said they took the action to warn her that they could not be used and dumped like trash after realizing her ambition of getting into the legislative chamber.

Already, heavily armed policemen have been drafted to the residence of the legislator in Abuja Quarters Gombe to forestall further skirmishes.