APC Rejects Obio/Akpor National Assembly Election Result

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has rejected the Senatorial and House of Representatives election results from Obio/Akpor local government area of the state.

The APC collation officers at various wards in the local government, alleged mutilation of results by staff of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and some alleged stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the area.

The presidential candidate of APC, Bola Tinubu won his election in Rivers, but this was not same with the party’s candidates for the National Assembly.

Speaking with journalists yesterday in Port Harcourt, Stanley Worgu, APC collation officer for Ward 10, and Francis Hanachor Eleto, APC collation officer for Obio/Akpor ward 2, urged the INEC to cancel the said election over irregularities.

He accused the INEC staff of conniving with the PDP members to hijack ballots boxes and BVAS at their units.

Worgu expressed that what transpired at his ward 10 on the election day was undemocratic.

He said “First, in our respective units in ward 10, and from the information we got in both ward 9 and Ward 11, the PDP stalwarts did not allow us to man our polling units.

“It started all the way from our polling unit, the amount of fire they came with, I will specifically say in Unit 72, 73 74, Wards 10, they came to hijack both the BVAS and the ballot box.

“What shocked me was, there was no enough security presence and most of these places they even came with security personnel. Even the INEC officials were conniving with them, when they have not arrived the polling there was peace but when they came to hijack the BVAS and other materials, INEC officials supported them.

“This is very unfair. Secondly, the results that was uploaded at the INEC did not tally with what transpired at the polling units. Where we saw this violation more was in the reps and senate election.

“We are demanding that both the Senate and House of Representatives election in Obio/Akpor should be cancelled. It was not an election. I have written my situation report and sent to INEC but no response yet,” Worgu added.

On his part, Eleto, explained “What actually happened during the 2023 senate and House of Representatives election was completely a disaster. It was disheartening for us to experience that.

“INEC promised us that election results will be transmitted at the polling units, but surprisingly, no one result was transmitted. We did everything possible at the polling units to upload the results, it was difficult.

“The irony of the whole thing is that SPOs who ought to be at the collation center, non were seen anywhere around the units. When it was difficult for the INEC officers to upload the results they were calling on the SPOs to give them a code so they can be able to upload the results, the SPOs were not taking calls, text messages sent to them were not responded. To that end most INEC officers were held down at that polling unit.”

He added that “The House of Representatives and Senate results is not reflecting what was collated at the polling units.The person announced as the winner of the election is from PDP but APC won in most of the polling units in Obio/Akpor.”