Assistant Editor (South South), JOE EZUMA, writes on issues in the April 11 elections in Rivers.
The acrimonious build-up to the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections between Rivers State chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), perhaps, set the stage for the bitterness and controversies that trailed the exercise and the eventual outcome. Facts and fiction also ran wild as the date for the contest drew near.
While chieftains of APC serially accused their opponents in PDP of killing and maiming their members in the state as well as hatching out rigging strategies, PDP officials alleged that the APC had deliberate plans to cause trouble in parts of the state on election day, so as to provide enough reason for the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the exercise.
The agenda, according to the party, was for postponement till president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, must have been sworn in to favour the party.
In fact, on Thursday, April 8, three days to the contest, PDP accused the governor and APC of plots to rig the election. The Party, through the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of its campaign organisation, Emma Okah, alleged that the APC had been using state resources to defeat the will of the people of the state.
“They have also been buying guns and ammunition for misguided youths in the state to cause aggravated havoc in different parts of the state, so that elections will not hold in Rivers State until Buhari is sworn in as president on May 29, 2015. With an APC president on seat, (Governor Chibuike) Amaechi and APC hope to have all the powers to rig elections.
“To Amaechi and the APC, INEC must be compromised at all costs. Amaechi and the APC have been offering bribes to INEC officials at various levels, with a view to compromising them in the conduct of the elections in Rivers State,” Okah stated.
He alleged that Amaechi had, on Wednesday, April 7, met with 10 electoral officers in charge of 10 local government areas in the state, and agreed to pay N20 million to each of them.
He listed some of the LGs affected to include Ogu/Bolo, Tai, Degema, Ahoada East and Ahoada West.
In the face of the suspicions by the two parties against each other, insinuations ran wild. While a section of the populace rumoured that the election had been postponed, some claimed that Governor Amaechi had directed APC supporters to boycott the election. Some even claimed that the governor was involved in a helicopter crash.
But on April 10, a day to the election, Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, put a lie to the rumour, stressing that the governor had been in Government House, Port Harcourt, attending to his duties.
She also debunked the insinuation on the postponement of election, assuring the electorate of government’s commitment at ensuring their safety during the elections.
Enter telephone tricks
In the midst of the confusion, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, David Iyofor, alerted that Amaechi’s telephone numbers had been cloned and were used to send out fake text messages to people not to come out and vote. The text messages, he said, were not from Amaechi, insisting that the governor’s position remained that Rivers voters should go out to vote.
Among the text messages circulated on the election day was that Victor Ihunwo, who was standing for re-election for Port Harcourt State Constituency III on the platform of the PDP, had stepped down for his opponent. Ihunwo was later declared winner in that constituency with 11,987 votes.
Semenitari also alleged that thugs working for Michael-West, a House of Assembly candidate on the platform of PDP, had bombed the residence of Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Joeba West, in Buguma, Asari Toru Local Government Area. The thugs numbering over 20, who had shot all day, threw Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) into the commissioner’s house, leaving it badly damaged, she added.
APC was equally not found wanting in accusing the PDP of not playing by the rules. In fact, on the election day, while accreditation was on course, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the Senior Special Assistant (Media and Public Relations) to the state APC Chairman, Davies Ikanya, released a damning allegation on PDP and its big wigs. Part of the allegation was that PDP gubernatorial candidate, Nyesom Wike; Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru; Minister of Sports, Tammy Danagogo; and Mrs. Patience Jonathan had perfected plots to rig the election.
Army moves in
Apparently concerned at the rising tension in the state, men of the 2 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, swooped on suspected black spots in the city and arrested six suspects. Brigade Commander, Brig-Gen. Koko Essien, disclosed that among the suspects was a woman, while one escaped with bullet wounds.
Though the election eventually held and PDP governorship candidate, Wike, declared winner, the dust that trailed the exercise was, by the close of last week, yet to settle. While PDP claimed that the election was free and fair, APC alleged irregularities in the exercise. Local and international observers also alleged manipulations in the contest. INEC has however advised aggrieved parties in the state to take their complaints to the election tribunal.
