PDP clears all seats in Saturday’s LGC elections in Rivers State

By Amaka Agbu

Amidst protests from other parties, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has won all the 23 Chairmanship and the councillorship seats in last Saturday’s local government council elections in the state as announced the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC.

Declaring the results last night, Chairman of the Commission, Justice George Omereji (Rtd) said that the PDP candidates scored the highest votes cast to emerge as the winners.

The RSIEC Chairman commended all critical stakeholders for the role they played in the success of the local government elections.

He said: “We thank all the stakeholders for the support given to us in the course of the elections. This includes the media and all of us present. You have been very wonderful. I appreciate and thank all of you for the support given to us. You will be the judge. We have done our best.

“I want to also use this opportunity to thank all the security operatives in Rivers State. They did absolutely well in this election,” he said.

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He announced that the elected Chairmen and the councillors were expected to be seated at the RSIEC office today (Monday) at 12 noon to be issued their certificates of return.

Meanwhile the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in Rivers State has called for the outright cancellation of last Saturday’s elections.

The state Chairman of the party, Mr. Sosuema Osahor alleged irregularities in some areas.

According to him, “In the local government elections conducted by Hon. Justice George Omereji, we are moved to say that there was no free and fair election in Rivers State on Saturday. There were no result sheets where results would have been entered. On these premises I make bold to call on RSIEC to cancel outrightly the entire elections of yesterday because the sanctity of that election was compromised.

“We, therefore, call for the entire cancellation of the entire carnage, the entire mirage RSIEC conducted yesterday called local government election,” he said.

The SDP state Chairman also called on the RSIEC Chairman to resign over what he described as gross compromise in the discharge of his duties.

“We also cease this medium to call on Justice George Omereji to humbly, respectfully resign as the Chairman and the Chief Electoral Officer of RSIEC. We have called this exercise Rivers of seismic electoral disorder because RSIEC has conducted an election that is below the simple degree of decency, that is below the belt of truth.

“The opposition parties didn’t have a voice in this election. The other parties have been outrightly disenfranchised. Mr Sosuema Osahor while reacting to the reports that Governor Nyesom Wike did not cast his votes in the elections shows that the governor did the right thing because doing otherwise would have amounted to what he called RSIEC illegalities.

“Governor Nyesom Wike didn’t vote in the local government elections. This means a lot to the SPD. It means that the governor has refused to honoured the abnormalities of yesterday. Voting in that election would have given thumps up to that exercise conducted by Rtd Justice Omereji. And so for the governor by not voting means that he has not honoured that election.

“It is also worthy of note when I went to the polling units. I saw that the presiding officer, the poll clerk are card-carrying members of PDP, I refused to vote. And so you can see as if I and the governor were on the same page.