Cross River: We contested against INEC, not Ayade ― APC

A week after the Governorship and State Assembly elections, the All Progressives Congress, Cross Rivers State chapter has rejected the outcome of the Governorship election in the State.

Speaking with newsmen on Monday in Abuja, National Vice Chairman, South-South of the party, Honourable Hillard Etta, who incidentally is from Cross Rivers State alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission, Resident Electoral Commissioner, for Cross Rivers State, Dr Frankland Briyai rigged the process for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Flanked by the APC governorship candidate in the State, Senator Owan Enoh and the party chairman, John Ochala, Honourable Etta further alleged that
about (12) twelve out of the eighteen (18) Local Government Returning Officers in the election were from Obudu, the Local Government Area of Governor Ben Ayade.

He said: “The National Assembly and Governorship/State Assembly elections organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Cross River State on Saturday, February 23 and Saturday, March 9, 2019, respectively, were, at its best, a sham that cannot stand the test of time. The contest was not just between the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates on one hand and the candidates of other parties that participated in the exercise on the other hand but between the APC candidates on one hand and the ruling party in the State, the Peoples Democratic Party, the INEC, the Security forces and Gov Ben Ayade’s organised thugs on the other. The Etim John-led faction of the party were the ones INEC collected the list of party agents from instead of collecting from the authentic party exco led by Sir John Ochala. These anti-party agents (Etim John and co) colluded with PDP to subvert the will of the people.

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“There is nothing more devastating and compromising than the attitude of the State INEC REC, Dr Frankland Briyai who on the eve of the Presidential/National Assembly elections on February 22, addressed the press and unilaterally announced the delisting of our candidates purportedly on the orders of a High Court whereas the matter was already in the domain of the Appeal Court from where a stay of execution order was secured. INEC indeed did the bidding of Gov Ben Ayade.

“For instance, at the just concluded Governorship/State Assembly Elections, about (12) twelve out of the eighteen (18) Local Government Returning Officers were from Obudu, the home Local Government Area of Governor Ben Ayade. This is outside the fact that all the Returning Officers are and were card-carrying members of the PDP. Party agents who complained about this were rebuffed and this accounted for why the state Collation agent of the party walked out of the collation Centre.

The APC which gave a hint that it might challenge the outcome of the governorship election result at the election petition tribunal further alleged that the process was marred by massive rigging with the connivance of security agents.

“There was massive rigging, thump-printing, intimidation of voters, vote buying, with the aid of INEC and security agents. Many of our supporters were killed in several locations across the state. There were ballot box snatching, while voters in APC dominated areas were prevented from voting. In fact, there was no election in Cross River as voting was inconclusive in most polling units across the length and breadth of the state. But results were entered in Favour of the PDP. It was a calculated charade. The bottom line is that our candidates were excluded from the election as their names were not even on the ballot in the first place.

“In the governorship and National Assembly elections, several of the results declared by the Returning Officers were ordinarily supposed to be results of inconclusive elections. Yet, this didn’t matter to a highly biased and compromised electoral umpire.

“Based on the general atmosphere of exclusion of our candidates, intimidation, manipulation and hijacking of materials, we hereby reject the result declared by INEC and call for the cancellation of the elections in Cross River State in its entirety.”