The All Progressives Congress on Sunday demanded the immediate redeployment of the Resident Electoral Commissioners in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states due to alleged complicity in the conduct of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
National Vice-Chairman of the APC, South-South, Mr. Hilliard Eta, alleged that the election results were manipulated to favour the Peoples Democratic Party. He also alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission in Cross River State was working in collaboration with Cross River State Government to rig election.
But the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Liyel Imoke, Mr. Christian Ita, said the ruling PDP does not need to rig elections in Cross River to win because the state is a one-party state, adding that the allegation was an item in the list of litany of lies by the desperate opposition party.
However, in an interactive session in Calabar, the APC national vice chairman said the call for redeployment of the RECs in the three states was to forestall loss of lives in the governorship and state House of Assembly election scheduled for April 11.
Eta said, “Rivers State card readers were programmed to fail for rigging to take place through massive distribution of incident forms. On Saturday, our members lost their lives in Port Harcourt because of the President’s desperation to return to power.
“In Akwa Ibom and Cross River states, over 90 per cent of the result sheets were not taken to the polling units. In Cross River State, the REC refused to give out the result sheets. It was evident in Rivers State that the results were not in the polling units.
“The RECs in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states should be redeployed before more lives are lost. They should allow us to participate in free and fair contest.”
Reacting to the allegations, the state REC, Dr. Okey Ezeani, said the allegation was false, adding that it is one out of the series of false accusations levelled against him.
