Malami Plotting To Scuttle Rivers Governorship Election Result Collation – PDP

INEC starts to tally figures tomorrow

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

As
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) prepares to
complete the Rivers State governorship and state House of Assembly
elections, which was suspended on March 10, following violence at some
collation centres, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the
Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice,
Abubakar Malami (SAN), of plotting to scuttle the process.

INEC
said on Saturday in Port Harcourt that no fresh elections would be held
in the state, saying there would be a process to complete the election,
which was suspended on March 10 following violence at some collation
centres.

INEC National Commissioner supervising Bayelsa, Edo and
Rivers states, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, made the clarification while
addressing stakeholders as part of the process for the completion of the
election.

Agbamuche-Mbu said results of the governorship
election in 17 of the 23 local government areas of the state were safe
in the strong room of the commission in Abuja.

Addressing the
stakeholders, Agbamuche-Mbu said the commission would conclude the
collation of the Rivers State governorship election between April 2 and
5, adding that the process will be transparent.

“All the results
are with us in our strong room. They have not been tampered with. We are
going to conduct the collation transparently. INEC is here to complete
this process and we shall complete the process successfully,” she
stated.

The INEC National Commissioner said though the commission
did not know the winners of the elections, all the results were intact
in INEC’s custody, adding that the electoral commission would
religiously follow the timelines outlined by it for the collation of the
governorship election results.

However, PDP in a statement
yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan,
said that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has been
boastfully claiming that the AGF was working on a script whereupon he
would write to the Chairman of the INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to direct
him to stop the collation of results.

The PDP cautioned Malami
to restrain himself from being used to commit unconstitutional act in
the collation of results already scheduled to begin in the state on
Tuesday.

He said it is imperative for the AGF to note that
Amaechi, in his desperation, would want to rope him in and use him to
cause a constitutional crisis that has the capacity to derail the
nation’s democracy.

Ologbondiyan noted: “Our party urges the AGF
to note that there is no provision of the 1999 Constitution (as Amended)
or any part of the Electoral Act 2010 (as Amended) that in anyway,
empowers the AGF to interfere or stop the process of election, until
declaration of result is made.

“The constitution and laws of our
nation are clear on the powers and statutory functions of the Attorney
General and that he has no powers to interfere in the conduct of
elections or direct the stoppage of an electoral process.

“The
AGF should therefore distance himself from the ignoble scheme by Rotimi
Amaechi to cause trouble in Rivers State by attempting to scuttle the
collation of results in the Rivers governorship election, which has been
clearly won by the PDP and Governor Nyesom Wike.”

The PDP urged
INEC to save the nation a serious crisis by asserting its independence
in concluding the collation process as well as respecting the will of
the people, as expressed at the polls on March 9, by declaring Wike as
rightful winner of the election without further delay.

Meanwhile,
the Rivers State chapter of the PDP has described the accusation by
the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state that INEC is favouring
Governor Wike, as unfounded.

In a statement signed on its behalf
by the Director of Information of the PDP Campaign Council, Emma Okah,
the party stated that the allegation doesn’t hold water and that it is
the same old song; empty, meaningless and senseless.

“Majority of
Rivers people don’t take the APC in the state serious. They blame
everybody apart from themselves for every problem. When they had
internal problems that cost them their place in the ballot, they blamed
others. When their adopted puppet in AAC could not win one unit in the
state because he was unknown and never campaigned, the APC blamed
others,” the statement said.

Likening APC to a bad workman, who
is always quarrelling with his tools, PDP frowned at the way and manner
in which APC teaches INEC, soldiers and police how to do their job.

The party also warned APC to stop resorting to blackmail whenever they meet disapproval.

While
stating that it was not in position to speak for INEC, PDP said it was
in doubt that APC’s subtle threat would be noted and handled
appropriately.

Source:- Thisdaylive