How presidential poll may affect guber election in Rivers

A political analyst and Executive Director of Youths and Environmental Advocacy, Nigeria, Fyneface Dumnamene, has said the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections will shape voting pattern of Rivers State come March 18.

He, however, expressed fears that there might be low voter turnout, as many would not ‘want to waste their time’ to vote, and at the end, those votes didn’t count.

Since the election held, there have been unusual calm across the state, as residents have refused to celebrate or commend the outcome.

The Guardian gathered that many still believe that the final result did not reflect the wishes of Rivers State people. It was gathered that this could ultimately lead to voter apathy, as those who spoke noted it was needless coming out to that day to exercise their electoral right.

Lamenting the results recorded at their various polling units as being a contrast from those announced by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collation officer in the state, residents of the state, particularly, the Igbo, said they were short-changed by INEC, insisting that LP and Obi were robbed of victory, which was handed to APC.

At an event organised by the International Press Centre (IPC) in Port Harcourt last week, Miss Catherine Humphrey from Akuku-Toru Council said she was disillusioned. She said they were pressured to vote for a particular candidate in her unit, but the people refused and voted for their preferred candidate.

Lamenting that at the end of counting, LP won in her unit, but surprisingly, the result uploaded by INEC was quite different.

Dumnamene stated, however: “The dominant political parties – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC)- are now aware of the power of the Third Force, led by the Obi/Datti ticket of the Labour Party (LP), such that it has sent a shock wave to governors on the PDP and APC platforms, who are either going for re-election or trying to produce their successors, that it is no longer business as usual.”

He added that the February 25 elections showed that Nigerians need a paradigm shift, but were discouraged by election manipulations by politicians.

Although, the presidential election in the state saw massive turnout, with many trekking as much as three hours to their polling units, the late arrival of materials, malfunctioning of the INEC Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, delay in balloting, as well as rainfall, did not dampen people’s spirit.

Voters waited patiently and peacefully in various polling units to cast their votes.
Barely 24 hours after the voting processes were concluded, INEC in the state failed to upload or announce the results. Expectedly, this sparked anxieties and cold feelings among residents who suspected foul play.

As at 5.00pm on Sunday, February 26, no result was uploaded. Journalists and election observers who were at the state collation centre on Saturday night were asked to go home and return on Sunday morning, but as at 3p.m. on Sunday, no result had arrived from the councils.

At 5.34pm, when the collation began and partial announcement of results by the State Collation officer, Prof. Charles Teddy Adias, were conflicting with some of the ones displayed by party agents and supporters at various polling units.

The Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Prof Adias, announced APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as winner of the election, polling 231,591, to defeat Obi of LP, who scored 175,071 and former Vice President and presidential candidate of PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, getting 88,468 votes. From the 23 local councils in the state, APC won 14, LP five, while PDP won four.

Following the development, angry youths and women staged protests in Ikwere and Ogoni axis against alleged manipulation of the presidential election results.

Youths and voters at Ward 12, Unit 11 in Port Harcourt City Council blocked the exit of INEC officials, protesting that results must be uploaded. It took the intervention of security agencies to calm the situation, assuring that they would upload the results.

Also, women in Ogoni, dressed in black, protested, insisting that the results being declared conflicted with the votes obtained in the area.

There were sporadic shootings and vandalisation of vehicles of motorists travelling along Igwuruta-Elele-Airport road in Ikwerre Council by protesting youths, who alleged that ballot boxes in the area were hijacked when it was noticed that the LP presidential candidate was winning.

One of the victims, whose vehicle was vandalised, said: “I was just coming back from where I went to cast my vote when I ran into angry youths who claimed the ballot boxes in their area were snatched when Obi was winning. When I saw that they were shooting sporadically, I parked my car, but they still vandalised it. The election riggers should allow whoever is winning to win.

“Thugs believed to be agents of the state government invaded various polling units and collation centres and took away election materials, including the results sheets.”

To underscore the level of infraction that occurred, the state Police Command arrested four of its officers over alleged involvement in election malpractices. Its spokesperson, Grace Iringe-Koko, said the officers were arrested following a viral video that showed them hijacking ballot boxes and driving away in a Police van. She assured that the officers would be seriously sanctioned if found culpable.

Some of the top governorship candidates for the election include, Magnus Abe of Social Democratic Party (SDP), Tonye Cole (APC), Sim Fubara (PDP), Beatrice Itubo (LP), Dumu-Lulu Briggs (Accord), Dawari George (Action Alliance) and Leyii Kwanee (Zenith Labour Party).

Analysts have argued that some of the candidates were resorting to horse-trading by teaming up to support one candidate to enable them wrestle power from Wike’s candidate, Fubara, who appeared to have grassroots supports from the council chairmen.

Election observers say the outcome of the governorship election may be different from the presidential election where APC, with the support of Wike, had a clear lead, as the governor will do everything within his power to swing votes for the PDP candidate.

Besides, Saturday’s election will settle the supremacy battle between Wike and former minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who is working to ensure APC takes control of Brick House.