Supporters of the Rivers State Peoples Democratic Party have kept up their demonstration by placing fetish objects in front of the Port Harcourt office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in order to demand access to the voting materials used in the state’s March 18 governorship election.
Remember that the PDP protest started on Monday and descended into violence when Tonye Cole, the APC’s candidate for governor, and a few other party executives arrived at the GRA crossroads in Port Harcourt to travel to the INEC office, which was just a few meters away down Aba Road.
To continue their demand, Cole vowed that he and his team will go to the INEC office on Tuesday.
It was discovered that they opted to remain behind to avoid the altercations and chaos that resulted in his injury during the protest on Monday.
A man costumed as a “juju priest,” with his head and waist draped in palm fronds and his body covered in crimson cloth, presided over proceedings while distributing libations and chanting incantations in the local dialect, according to our journalist who was on the scene of the day two demonstration.
He continued by saying that the security personnel-erected barricades on the Waterlines axis and the GRA junction leading to the INEC office were still in place since drivers and commuters are unable to access the once-busy express lane.
The 32-member House leader, Martins Amaewhule, joined the protest on Tuesday, which had previously been led by Edison Ehie, the deputy speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, and the chairman of the Ikwerre Local Government Area.
“The police must arrest him (Cole) today because we don’t know what to tell the family of the dead PDP supporter. The wife and children are crying at the hospital. Why must we continue to fold our hands and allow criminals to steal our money because they are using thugs?
“The Nigeria Police must rise to the occasion. We are ready to die for our rights. We are ready to die to defend our mandate. Enough is enough,” Ehie stated.
Then, the demonstrators handed over an accepted copy of the PDP’s petition from March 24, 2023, in which the ruling party requested that the INEC provide Certified True Copies of election-related information.
But, in response to Tuesday’s demonstration, Beke stated that the APC would follow all applicable legal procedures to obtain the necessary documentation to submit a case to the election petition tribunal.
He remarked, “Are you unaware that they used juju to obstruct the INEC office? You saw what they tied there, didn’t you? You can see what they are doing from that. Are they allowed to block INEC’s office? What they’re doing is visible.
“For us, the world has known our demands, and we are going to get what we are asking for within the law. We never said they (INEC) should not give any other person what they are asking for.
“No, we asked that they give CTC documents, and we have done that petition to the Inspector General of Police because we feel we won’t get justice from the police in Rivers State.”
In the meantime, Governor Nyesom Wike criticized Cole’s requests to examine voting papers at the INEC office in Port Harcourt on behalf of the state’s APC governorship candidate.
Wike expressed shock that a candidate (implied to be Cole) personally visited the INEC office to review CTC documentation of election materials.
On Tuesday, he gave a speech at the opening of the Government Secondary School in Kpor, the state’s Gokana Local Government Area’s administrative center.
He stated, “Have you seen where a candidate is going to INEC to say that he wants to collect CTC? What are his lawyers doing? What are his agents doing?
“Those are the duties of lawyers. What CTC do you want to collect? Let people see the truth of the matter. You lost the election; you lost the election.”
Dr. Johnson Sinikiem, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, asked all political parties that had requested the ability to verify electoral materials to do so by visiting the offices of their local governments.
A portion of the statement said, “The commission has received over fifty (50) of these applications since the conclusion of the presidential, National Assembly, gubernatorial, and state assembly elections in Rivers State.
“And a good number of these applications have been processed in accordance with the date of receipt of such applications and payment of certification fees. This process is still ongoing.
“The commission has also advised all applicants to visit our local government offices where these documents are domiciled for inspection while we work out modalities for inspection of other documents domiciled at the state office in accordance with available spaces.
“The Management of INEC Rivers State, therefore, wishes to assure all applicants and the general public that the Commission is committed to discharging its constitutional and lawful duties without preference or bias.”
Okon Effiong, the state’s police commissioner, has cautioned politicians to refrain from involving the police in politics.
CP Effiong stated that “unnecessary demonstrators obstructing vehicular and commercial activities will not be tolerated,” adding that “the police remain neutral and focused on their constitutional obligations.”