[Mhiz Rebecca]

The Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has
claimed that the party contested the Saturday’s rerun elections in
Rivers State against the Federal government.
According to the PDP, the election was against the Nigerian Army,
the Independent National Electoral Commission as well as the All
Progressives Congress.
Spokesperson for the faction of the party, Dayo Adeyeye, stated this
in a statement in Abuja on Monday.
Adeyeye also rejected the declaration of Magnus Abe as the winner
of the Rivers South-East senatorial district election.
Adeyeye said, “The result, which declared Magnus Abe of the APC
winner, is an unprecedented massive manipulation of the electoral
process in active connivance with the security agencies.
“The whole world knows that election did not take place in the Rivers
South-East senatorial district. We, therefore, reject the victorious
declaration of Abe with the fabricated results. We demand INEC to
cancel the election in that constituency and conduct a fresh poll.
“We promise to avail ourselves of every opportunity to seek redress
on this matter in the interest of democracy and that of the
constituents who were denied their right to vote.
“We, again, condemn in totality, the adverse role of the Nigerian
Army, the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad and other security
agencies during the rerun elections in Rivers State.
“It was a nightmare and a complete reversal of their constitutional
mandates of safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country and
the protection of lives and property.”
The party’s spokesman also alleged that there were glaring
evidences that the security agencies worked for the APC against the
interest of Rivers people.
He added, “There is no gainsaying that the rerun elections in Rivers
State were not a contest between political parties. It was majorly a
contest that pitted the PDP against the Army, the Police, the INEC,
the APC, and the Federal Government of Nigeria represented by the
Honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, and
others.”
Meanwhile, the leadership of the APC has rubbished the allegations of
the PDP, describing it as unfounded and expected.
Deputy National Chairman of the party, Mr. Segun Oni, said this in
response to the allegations of rigging levelled by the Ahmed Makarfi-
led faction of the PDP against the APC.
Oni said, “We have won; they have lost, simple. Whatever they now
want to make out of it, we should allow them. You cannot beat a
child and prevent that child from crying.
“So, anybody who loses an election will naturally look for space to
tell his own side of the story, allow them.
“The system provides very clear steps to be taken for anyone who is
not satisfied with an election result. We cannot prevent them from
saying what they are saying.
“They lost and you don’t expect them not to say what they are
saying. The election has been won and lost, if anyone has any
complaint there are procedures to be followed to seek redress. They
can go to court.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the
senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers-West,
Osinachukwu Ideozu, the winner of the election in the senatorial
district.
The Returning Officer for the senatorial district, Prof Raphael Echebiri,
announced that Ideozu got 107,166 votes to defeat his opponent
from the All Progressives Congress, Otelemaba Amachree, who
polled 46,898 votes.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside has
vowed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would reject the
result of Rivers East Senatorial District rerun election.