- Says military rigged election for Abe
THE national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated Governor Nyesom Wike and people of Rivers State over their victory in last Saturday’s rerun election in the state.
A statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the National Caretaker Committee of the party, Dayo Adeyeye, in Abuja on Monday, vowed to challenge the declaration of Senator Magnus Abe as the winner in Rivers South East Senatorial election, accusing the security agencies of manipulating the process in his favour.
The party noted that with the results of the elections declared so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “after so much politicking, intimidation and harassment by the Nigerian security agencies, the party won two Senate seats, 10 House of Representatives seats and other State House of Assembly seats.”
It added: “It is important to note once again that the South East Senatorial District Election purportedly won by Senator Magnus Abe still remains a farce and will be contested at the Tribunal.
“For the umpteenth time, there was no election in that Senatorial District, and the results concocted for Senator Abe was the handiwork of the Army, the Police and the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi working in concert with the INEC.”
The party commended “the zeal, determination and support of Governor Wike for standing against undemocratic tendencies, and the entire people of Rivers State for rejecting the APC and the Federal might deployed to oppress them. Rivers people have shown that the will of the people cannot be defeated no matter the coercion.”
It said it was particularly proud of all its candidates in the elections for remaining united “in the face of daunting provocations.”
The PDP congratulated both winners on their victory and those were not declared by the INEC for their gallant performances.
The statement added: “We were confident that the outcome would have been 100 per cent, but for the schemes of enemies of the enemies of democracy.
“The PDP as a law abiding party will contest all outstanding issues in the Tribunal and the Court.
“We have extreme regard for the Judiciary and believe that the Court will do justice to all the issues.
“Once again, we condemn the militarisation of Rivers State by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Election is not war and we wish to urge the APC-led government to deploy the Army to protect our brothers and sisters in the North-East that are falling daily to the dreaded insurgency and other troubled zones in the country instead of using them to rig election for its Party faithful.”
The statement thanked all PDP supporters nationwide for their support and contributions during the rerun elections in Rivers State, urging them to remain loyal “and continue to encourage us to do more in future elections in the Country. This is a test case for the 2019 General Election and we must all be prepared to protect the soul of Nigeria and democracy in general.”
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