By: Felix Ikpotor
Following reports of alleged irregularities that marred the Saturday 18, 2023 Governorship and House of Assembly Elections in Rivers State, a group known as the South South Youth Initiative (SSYI) is now calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the polls.
The group said what happened in Rivers State last Saturday fell short of an election as it was characterised by alleged intimidation of voters and electoral malpractices.
National President of the South South Youth Initiative, Comrade Imeabe Saviour Oscar while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday accused officials of INEC and the police of colluding with members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to perpetrate the alleged irregularities.
He said those who aided the flawed election should be arrested while the results which produced Sir Siminialayi Fubara as governor and all candidates of the PDP as assembly members should be cancelled.
He said: “What happened in Rivers State on Saturday does not qualify as an election. In saner societies, by this time, staffers of INEC and police officers who took part in the election should have been either queried or arrested and prosecuted for giving impetus to criminality in the guise of conducting an election”.
The South South Youth Initiative further accused INEC of compromise.
“We are aware that INEC was bribed to announce a concocted result because if they were not bribed, it’s also in their guidelines that you can’t announce result in a polling unit where election never held. In my polling unit, unit 21, ward 15 in Khana LGA, there was no election but there was result from that polling unit.
“Also, why would INEC claim to be ignorant of sending ballot papers meant for Ikwerre LGA to Khana and still want the people to vote?
“We also went to further to investigate and discovered that most of the results sheets sent to the LGAs were photocopies instead of the original. Also INEC officials went further to intimidate electorates especially those that refused to vote for PDP. Again, the police intimidated people, worked with INEC and members of the PDP and accompanied them to polling units to hijack materials”.
The youths said, “In most parts of Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City, Ikwerre, Emohua and others, a town crier moved round communities announcing that anyone who would not vote for the PDP on Saturday’s election should not come near the polling units. Many persons that thought it was a joke and came out to vote against the PDP were beaten blue-black. This reports were given to INEC but they swept it under the carpet and went ahead to give the people concocted results. We saw a situation whereby Rivers people refused to vote for the PDP but INEC decided to rig the elections to favour them. We want INEC to understand that people are now wiser and as time goes by we shall come out and take our stand against INEC.
They demanded that, ” since there was no election in Rivers State, since the election was characterised by violence and intimidations, town criers going through communities to tell people that if your not going to vote for PDP candidates please don’t come out, at this point, it’s in INEC guidelines that when there is such a situation, you cannot continue with the election, so we want INEC to cancel the elections as what took place in Rivers State cannot be seen as an election. So if INEC wants to prove to Rivers people that they weren’t bribed to conduct this election, they should cancel it because they refused to adhere to their own guidelines because ordinarily, they shouldn’t have announced such concocted result”.
The group warned that if INEC refused to heed to their call, youths of the state shall rise up to ensure that the proper thing is done.
“If INEC refuses to heed to our call then they should be prepared to see youths come out to correct the system in our own way since the government has refused, the youths and electorates will come out to correct it,” he stated.
