Accord governorship candidate calls for fresh polls in Rivers

Threatens To File Petition At Tribunal

The Governorship candidate of the Accord in Rivers State, Dumo Lulu-Briggs has called for the cancellation of the just concluded March 18 gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections in the state.

Lulu-Briggs, who joined his counterparts in All Progressives Congress (APC), Tonye Cole; Senator Magnus Abe of Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Civil Liberty Organisation in the state to condemn the last poll, called on the electoral umpire to conduct a fresh election.

The Accord candidate, who spoke at a press conference in Port Harcourt, yesterday, said after the assurances from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the exercise would be free and fair, to his dismay; the whole exercise was excessively marred with irregularities. He said: “The election, in all ramifications, there was no proper governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State on March 18, 2023.

“The exercise was marred and disrupted by killings, massive violence, heavy voters suppression, voters intimidation, and other forms of irregularities and non-compliance with the electoral law and INEC regulations.”

He noted that the election was characterised by vote buying, result forging, result sheet mutilation, and serial thumb printing, stressing that the rigging happened on a substantial and systemic scale.

Lulu-Briggs warned that if INEC did not heed his call for cancellation, the party will be left with no option but to file a petition at the tribunal to challenge what he described as a travesty.

“In the light of the above and lest the dead die in vain, I call on INEC to cancel the entire elections of March 18, 2023 in Rivers State and hold a fresh governorship and House of Assembly elections. Failure to heed this call will leave my party and me no choice but to file a petition at the election tribunal to challenge this travesty.”