Consequent upon the widespread violence in Rivers State at last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections and the allegations by the state governor, Nyesom Wike that some APC bigwigs were responsible for the violence, the Rivers State APC has indicated that it might seek legal redress for the allegation which described as libellous.
Tonye Dele Cole, the State Coordinator of the APC Presidential Campaign Council and Governorship candidate of the APC, said the party’s legal team was investigating the allegations which he described as malicious and might be advised on possible libel suit against those peddling the allegations.
Addressing a press conference Wednesday in Port Harcourt said he was shocked and saddened by statements and comments attributed to Wike “that Prof. Charles Dokubo-Quakers, Prince Tonye Princewill and I are responsible for the carnage and deaths in Abonnema last weekend”.
He stated: “Over the past few days, Rivers State has once again been in the headlines globally for all the wrong reasons. In a nationwide election that sought to elect a President for the Federal Republic of Nigeria and members of the National Assembly, our dear state was characterized with armed conflict which unfortunately led to the death of innocent Nigerians that had simply sought to exercise their civic duty of participating in an electoral process.
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At this juncture allow me to express my most profound and sincere condolences to the families who lost loved ones last weekend. In particular, we reach out to the family of Miss Ibisaki Amachree who was shot while on duty. One death is one too many and no one has the right to kill in the name of power and politics. May the souls of all those who died this weekend Rest in Peace and the families be rest assured that the Federal Government will seek justice for them, no matter how long it takes.
It has been my personal plea and mantra as well as that of the APC that the violence meted out on our members and citizens of the State in 2015 and immediately thereafter has no place in any modern society, especially one that desperately needs to grow economically and develop for the betterment of her people. We have called for peace and peaceful elections at every stage, but it is unfortunate that there are people hellbent to cling on to power at any cost, even to the taking of human lives”.
Cole went further: “For anyone willing to expose the truth, the task is relatively easy and the motive particularly clear. Nigerians in their vast numbers were shocked to learn of militant kingpins that were rewarded for their role in the 2015 elections with positions in the State House of Assembly, Local Government Councils and State Government appointments by the Rivers State Government. This is common knowledge and the names of these individuals are known to many”.
He alleged: “In Akuku Toru in particular, Hon. Rowland Sekibo, currently at large, is the Chairman of the LGA and under his watch, Abonnema was brazenly under the control of several deadly cult groups. Like in several LGA’s across the state and operating under the cover of the Local Government Authority, militarized cult groups have held Akuku Toru hostage over the past few years and in the run-up to this election, intelligence reaching us was that strict directives had been issued to the Chairman not to permit APC from delivering the Local Government of its gubernatorial candidate and in particular, his polling unit and Ward 12.
“We witnessed this playing out in the postponed presidential election on February 16 and again on the 23rd. The amateur videos of what the town looked like on Election Day has gone viral and it is clear that no one who loves life would venture onto the streets under such intense firepower. Of greater importance, I wish to congratulate HE President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR for his re-election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to address the impressive achievements by Rivers APC at the polls in spite of the many forces that have conspired to hamstring the party from the days of wanton killings and beheadings of APC supporters to the internal battles and court cases of recent times”.
Speaking on the presidential election he said: “The result of the just concluded Presidential elections is an indication of a new beginning and trajectory with respect to elections in Rivers State. Gone are the days when political thugs would hijack electoral materials and allocate hundreds of thousands of imaginary votes to their party. The results from the various units, wards and Local Government Areas confirms this and further highlights the depth of rigging and manipulation of the 2015 elections that APC as a party had complained about”.
Meanwhile, the Senator representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Magnus Abe has congratulated Muhammadu Buhari on his re-election as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria for a second term.
Abe, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Parry Saroh Benson in Port Harcourt congratulated not only the President but all Nigerians who took part in the making of history.
The Senator called on the government to punish all those found guilty of various electoral offences across the country, no matter how highly placed.
He condemned the violence that took place in different areas in Rivers State and some parts of the country, saying the elections were far from being perfect but it has satisfied the yearnings and aspirations of the majority of Nigerians.
Abe said, “Although the elections were in no way perfect, but nobody can dispute the fact that it has answered the yearnings of the average majority of Nigerians, it is a clear expression of the wish of the Nigerian people for continuity and progress”.
“We therefore call on the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and members of the main opposition party to accept the verdict of the Nigerian people and extend their hand of fellowship to the President-elect so that we can work together and put the bitterness, rancour, and acrimony of the elections behind us and move the nation forward”, he added.
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