•Opposition react calling for cancellation of results.
Amaechi Okonkwo – Port Harcourt
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), late Monday night declared Siminilayi Fubara, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winner of the March,18 Governorship election in Rivers.
This is as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole condemned the election process as marred by irregularities and called for the cancellation of the election.
Announcing the results after a long and tortuous wait for the result of the election from Ahoada West, Prof. Akpofure Rim-Rukeh, the State Returning Officer for INEC declared that Fubara scored a total of 302,614 votes to beat other candidates.
Rim-Rukeh, who is also the Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun, said that Tonye Cole polled 95,274 votes to come a distant second, while the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Sen. Magnus Abe, scored 46,981 votes to take the third position.
He added that the Governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), scored 22,224 votes to come fourth, announcing that the PDP having scored the highest vote with satisfied requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner.
Rim-Rukeh gave the state’s total number of registered voters as 3,537,190 and the number of accredited voters as 496,852.
He said that the total votes cast were 494,604, the total valid votes, were 483,934 and the total number of rejected votes was10,670 in the election.
Meanwhile, the APC candidate and runner-up in the election, Tonye Cole condemned the process saying he rejects the result.
“I totally condemn the blatant hijack announcement of rigged results with the imposition of the PDP candidate as governor and house of assembly members across all local government areas of the state.
“Today marks another dark day for Nigeria’s democracy and we are calling for the cancellation of the Rivers state gubernatorial and house of assembly elections.”
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- INEC postpones governorship, state assembly elections
- How weak online banking frustrates cargo clearance at Lagos ports
- 19,000 unclaimed NYSC exemption certificates: LASU gives owners final collection deadline
- From Qatar, Buhari goes to Daura for State elections
- Court sacks Benue LP’s deputy guber candidate
- EDITORIAL: Making cash freely available
and then