The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party on Monday said that the conduct of the Independent National Electoral Commission and security operatives in Saturday’s National and State Assembly rerun elections in Rivers State fell short of the expected standard, given their level of mobilisation and preparedness.
The opposition party expressed dismay that INEC, under the chairmanship of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has not been able to conduct any conclusive election in few constituencies and states so far since he assumed office and wondered what the case would be when the entire country is involved in the election.
“Also grossly unacceptable is the shoddy work by security operatives leading to escalation of violence, avoidable deaths and eventual cancellation of election results in eight local government areas in the state”, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said in a statement yesterday,
The PDP called on the nation and the international community to hold INEC, security operatives and the All Progressives Congress responsible should there be a breakdown of law and order in the state over the non-release of the final results.
The party alleged that the only reason for the seizure of the results was the fact that its candidates were in clear and overwhelming victory in all the election, an action it alleged, prompted the APC, in connivance with INEC, to seek to use the delay to manipulate the results.
Metuh said, “Nigerians and the international community can now see the desperation of the APC, which has now arm-twisted INEC in the unholy bid to alter the results of the elections and subvert the will of the people.
“We want the APC and INEC to mark the salient fact that the PDP, the people of Rivers State and indeed all Nigerians are already aware of the results from respective polling centers, wards and local government areas and will in no way whatsoever accept any final result that does not tally with the actual and already established figures from the polling units.
“We wish to remind the APC and INEC that Rivers State is a known stronghold of the PDP and the results from the elections cannot show otherwise.
“INEC should therefore understand that Nigerians are aware that in withholding the final results, they are ostensibly preparing grounds for chaos in the state.
“While we invite all to note the avoidable growing tension occasioned by the desperation of the APC to steal the mandate of the people, we caution INEC to extricate itself from the evil web and immediately release all the final results of the ballot as cast by the people and nothing more”.