No fewer than 11 political parties under the auspices of Concerned Political Parties in Rivers State have called for the cancellation of Saturday’s presidential election blaming it on irregularities.
The parties which include; AA, MPPP, UPN, APA, PPN, DPP, APGA, APC, PDC, PDM and ACPN in a press briefing held in Port Harcourt on Monday insisted that there were no original election result sheet at the polling units “and efforts we made to inquire met arrest and intimidation” they lamented.
The group in a press statement read by the chairman of the Democratic Peoples Party DPP, Mr. Chima Nsirim accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of compromising and taking sides “the fact that the INEC in Rivers State compromised is incontrovertible, as there was virtually no polling unit where votes were cast, counted, result announced and pasted as required by the electoral law, but rather what was obtained was a situation where voting and collation of results took place in the house of members of the PDP guarded by heavily armed surety personnel and thugs” the statement read.
According to the aggrieved parties, another prove that INEC allegedly contributed immensely to what they describe as irregularity was that most of the staff used for the elections were card carrying members of the PDP, “who never attended the INEC pre-election training”
They alleged that the election was characterized by killings and general intimidation, noting: “PDP thugs aided by security operatives brazenly brandished arms, unleashing mayhem on intending voters and members of other political parties” and accused the residence election commissioner, Dame Gestila Khan of complicacies. “We therefore call on Dame Gestila Khan to desist forthwith from any activity that is not in tandem with the electoral act, which may be capable of breaching the peace and create tension in Rivers State. ###
