…Frowns At Length Of Timelines Issued By INEC
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has joined the fray of criticism greeting the letter to President Mohammadu Buhari by some self-acclaimed elders of the State, who are card-carrying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and working for Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, seeking Buhari’s interference in the Rivers State Governorship Election collation process.
The State PDP Chairman, Bro. Felix Obuah in a statement on Tuesday, described the letter to the President which were published in some of the nation’s leading newspapers on Wednesday, March 20, 2019 as a concoction of hopeless lies, wondering why the APC-sponsored elders preferred to sing from the destructive and disastrous hymnbook of Amaechi, rather than side with the much bruised and traumatized people of the State.
Bro. Obuah said as card-carrying members of the APC, the so-called elders lacked the moral justification to speak for Rivers State and urged Rivers people to remain calm as the mandate they freely gave to Governor Wike and the PDP on March 9, 2019 will be affirmed at the end of the collation process.
Full text of the press statement:
“The nation woke up on Wednesday 20th March 2019 to the hopeless lies published by six All Progressives Congress (APC) Elders in leading National Newspapers in their ill-motivated letter to President Muhammadu Buhari. These APC Elders discarded the overriding interest of Rivers State to line their pockets. They preferred to sing from the destructive and disastrous hymnbook of the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, rather than side with the much bruised and traumatized people of Rivers State.
2. As card-carrying members of the APC these elders cannot claim to speak for Rivers State. They have no such right to represent the interest Rivers State. They cannot speak for a State that they have rejected; a State they have turned their backs on in exchange for peanuts. At best, they can only represent their pockets.
3. To all intents and purposes, the disgruntled card-carrying elders of the APC signed the bribe-induced statement against the mandate Rivers people have freely given to Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and other PDP Candidates on March 9, 2019. They are confirmed members of the Amaechi anti-Rivers team. They are part of the old politicians on the retainership of the Minister of Transportation to spin and spew falsehood on the electoral process in Rivers State.
4. The former Rivers State Governor, Chief Rufus Ada George is a known APC Card Carrying Member, who has lost his Rivers instincts. Alabo T.O Graham Douglas served on the campaign committee of the sacked Rivers State APC Governorship Candidate, MrTonye Cole. Prof D.M.J. Fubara , Chief Samson Agbaru, Rear Admiral O. Fingesi (rtd) and Group Capt J.I. Ben-Kalio (rtd) are prominent card-carrying members of the APC members who have continued to play key roles for the party. Therefore, the letter is part of their contribution to the atrocious plot by the APC against the people of Rivers State.
5. Mr. President, and indeed, Nigerians and the international community should therefore disregard their statement as one written in bad faith.
THE REFUSAL TO COMMENT ON THE ORCHESTRATED VIOLENCE AND DISRUPTION OF COLLATION BY SOLDIERS AND F-SARS
6. It is unfortunate that these dishonorable elders turned a blind eye to the deaths and mayhem visited on the people of Rivers State by soldiers and F-SARs operatives at collation centers during the Governorship elections because of financial inducements. They shamelessly saw nothing wrong in the deaths of their kith and kin in the hands of rampaging soldiers working for the AAC/APC alliance.
7. Their mischievous statement was silent on the desecration of Rivers State by the desperate AAC/APC/Army alliance that visited Rivers people with violence. They refused to acknowledge the invasion of the home of the Rivers State Education Commissioner, Dr Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja by soldiers. They ignored the invasion of Collation Centers in Ogu/Bolo, Okrika, Oyigbo and Khana Local Government Areas by soldiers and F-SARs operatives. They made no mention of the heartbreaking violence visited on Abonnema and other Akuku-Toru Local Government Area communities.
7. Instead, they focused on trying to convince Mr. President to illegally intervene in the Governorship Election Collation Process which has reached an advanced stage, simply because they are under obligation to shamefully dance to the tunes of their master, the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
REPLAY OF THE BIBLICAL SOLOMONIC SCENARIO
8. The recommendations of the six compromised APC elders clearly reveal their ungodly support for the plot to rob Rivers people of their mandate. In one breath, they implied that the AAC was heading to victory and in another; they are urging the President to truncate the Collation and Declaration Process. They are behaving like the harlot in the Biblical Solomonic story who wanted the child killed, despite laying claims to it. They have shown that they are only interested in truncating the Rivers Governorship election process because of the overwhelming mandate handed over to Governor Wike by Rivers people.
9. It is distressing that these Elders would want to use illegal means to deny Rivers people their right to freely choose their Governor. In case they have forgotten, the facts have been established that Collation of Governorship election Results for 17 LGAS have been completed. Declarations have been made for 21 State Constituencies. In all these areas, the PDP and Governor Wike emerged victorious. It is rather disgraceful for these APC elders to turn logic on its head because they have been paid.
INEC TIMELINES FOR COLLATION AND DECLARATION OF GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION RESULTS
10. Even though we frown at the length of the timelines issued by INEC for the collation, declaration and conclusion of the election processin Rivers State, we received the news with optimism. Rivers State PDP is waiting patiently for theprocess to be concluded because the people of Rivers State overwhelmingly voted for our party.
11. We urge Rivers people to remain calm as the mandate they freely gave to Governor Wike and the PDP on March 9 will be affirmed at the end of the Collation Process. Victory for the PDP will come at the end of the exercise. Rivers State is PDP. The people massively voted for the PDP as all the figures indicate.”
