Rivers rough ride towards credible election

March 21, 2015

Peterside and Wike

Some people say the recent protests by supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress in Rivers States are an indication that the forthcoming elections in the state may not be credible, writes CHUKWUDI AKASIKE

That Rivers State has been tagged a flash point as far as political violence is concerned did not come to pundits as a surprise. Unfolding events within the past two years point to the fact that the state will be hot as a result of the actions and inactions of politicians and stakeholders during the forthcoming elections in the state.

From the crisis in the state chapter of the PDP, the defection of the then leader of the party and state governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, to the crisis in the State House of Assembly and the closure of the courts, absolutely nothing has shown that there will be peace before, during and after the 2015 polls in the Treasure Base of the country.

In fact, some pundits had predicted that only the 2015 election would douse the ongoing political tension and they seem to be accurate in their prediction as the polity has overtime been overheated. But the pressure in Rivers State appeared to have gone out of control recently when the unexpected happened at the front gate of the Independent National Electoral Commission located on Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway.

APC supporters and their counterparts in the PDP had converged almost at the same time on INEC office protesting what they described as biased posture of the electoral body ahead of the next general elections. It was difficult to fathom how PDP members and supporters stormed the state secretariat of the commission the same time with protesting APC supporters, even as both groups were laying a similar allegation against the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Gesila Khan.

Both the PDP and the APC in the state accused Khan of plotting to manipulate the 2015 governorship and presidential elections in favour of the other party. Members of the APC, according to one of their leaders, were on a peaceful protest with 14 other political parties, excluding the PDP. Supporters of the ruling party spent about an hour inside the Legislative Quarters that is not up to four poles to the state INEC office.

Inside the Legislative Quarters, the protesters from the APC and other political parties had put their placards in order, using the boards to express their grievances over an alleged move by the state REC to rig the election in favour of the PDP. They had marched close to INEC premises when they surprisingly saw a huge number of protesters, who had a different chant and war song. In their protest, the PDP and APC supporters had something in common: anger against INEC’s REC.

While the APC maintained that Khan was planning to manipulate the election in favour of the PDP, the opposition party (PDP) did not want to hear any of that and went ahead to also accuse the state REC of planning to rig the election in favour of the APC. What would have been a deadly clash between supporters of both parties numbering up to 4,000 was, nevertheless, averted by the police.

Armed policemen, who were earlier on the ground, had a hectic day, trying to avoid the exchange of blows by supporters of both parties as some security operatives took position in strategic points to ward off any incursion of the protesters into INEC’s office. Not comfortable with the presence of the APC supporters, who were chanting “Change,” the PDP supporters chased away their perceived enemies and destroyed some of their placards.

A journalist, Mr. Femi Ibrahim, who was injured on the leg as he tried to dodge a stone thrown by one of the angry protesters, was taken to the hospital by some of his colleagues. Some of the placards displayed earlier by the APC supporters read, “Rivers REC, Are You a Member of PDP?” “We need unbiased umpire in Rivers,” “Rivers people will resist any attempt to manipulate the electoral process,” “INEC, your secret agenda with PDP has been exposed” and “We want a free and fair election in Rivers.”

However, some of the inscriptions on the PDP supporters’ placards read “INEC, you are working for APC,” “INEC, we need a free and fair election,” “We will not accept fake results” and “INEC, you are partial.” One of the PDP protesters said they (PDP supporters) would never be intimidated by their APC counterparts, even as he queried why the APC would decide to stage a protest on the same day and time with the PDP.

“We have chased them away. Some of them (APC supporters) ran to the bush. We took their placards away from them. Why would they venture into the place we are protesting,” he said.

Speaking on the matter, the state PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, told journalists at the venue of the protest that INEC was recruiting card-carrying members of the APC as its adhoc workers, adding that such a development would not create conducive atmosphere for the conduct of a free and fair election.

Nwanosike, who later met with the state REC, also faulted INEC’s insistence on the use of card readers during the March 28 and April 11, 2015 elections, maintaining that the test-run of the new technology by the commission had shown that the machine would not be able to assist the commission to conduct a hitch-free poll.

He specifically stated that one of the aides to Governor Amaechi, Chief Tony Okocha, had two brothers – Godfrey and Gibson – who were working as Assistant Electoral Officers with INEC in the state, adding that the development would not pave way for the conduct of a free and fair election in the state.

In Nwanosike’s words, “From the record and INEC’s position, the number of PVCs distributed in the North East where Boko Haram had been on rampage is on the high side. If many people have been displaced in the region, who then did INEC give the PVCs to?

“Again, you can see through the utterances of the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Mohammed, that he has become the spokesman of INEC. The card reader has been faulted going by INEC’s test-run the other day, yet they (INEC) want to go ahead with it.”

On the skirmish between his party supporters and the APC’s, Nwanosike maintained that it was the APC that attacked PDP members, who were on a peaceful rally.

Also, the state APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Chris Finebone, explained that the party decided to protest, having noticed that INEC’s system had been “strategically compromised.”

Finebone said, “But surprisingly, the PDP supporters in their usual thirst for violence got wind of our protest and appeared at the same venue. We are calling on security operatives to always be proactive and intervene by arresting PDP supporters, who only came to scuttle our peaceful protest.

“You can see that no member of the PDP was arrested as they disrupted our protest at the INEC office. It has been the same situation, even when APC members are being attacked by the PDP. You saw how they took away the placards displayed by our supporters.”

Expectedly, Khan, who appeared to be in the eye of the storm, said it was obvious that she had been neutral in carrying out her functions. On the issue that one of the governor’s aides has two brothers working with INEC, Khan explained that the development had nothing to do with the commission’s determination to conduct a free and fair election.

“The PDP and APC have been complaining. I am happy that since the APC and PDP are accusing me of being partial, that means that I am neutral. I thank God that the police were on the ground when the protest began, you people would have clashed,” she added.

In his reaction, the Chancellor, International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, Dr. Jackson Omenazu, said INEC must show that it is independent and ready to conduct election as a neutral umpire.

Omenazu expressed surprise that members of both PDP and APC clustered at INEC main entrance because a mole in the commission had informed the PDP that the APC was about to protest. According to him, the electoral body in the state was the first suspect over the ugly incident that took place on Port Harcourt-Aba Road.

Omenazu said, “From our investigation, the APC members came for the protest against INEC with nine other political parties. But a mole in INEC informed the PDP about the planned protest by the APC and both political parties clustered at the frontage of INEC office before a fight began.

“What happened is an indication that INEC is not independent. From our investigation, Rivers REC has been sent to carry out a project that could cause an uncontrollable crisis in the state. Whether she is from Bayelsa State or not, her duty is to conduct a free and fair election for the people of Rivers State. For instance, we have it on good authority that INEC has recruited some card-carrying members of political parties to work as its adhoc staff and with this, it will be difficult to achieve a credible poll in the state because such adhoc staff cannot be independent.”

A Port Harcourt-based public affairs analyst, Mr. James Barini, urged politicians to leave INEC in the state alone, adding that the commission was trying its best to conduct a credible election.

Barini described the REC as an upright woman, whose enviable achievements in Delta State brought her to limelight.

He said, “Rivers people should watch and I am predicting that INEC with the REC in the state will do a good job. It is wrong to say the woman is biased when she has been trying her best to conduct a free and fair election on March 28 and April 11, 2015.”