Nullification of April 2015 governorship election by the Rivers State Election Petitions Tribunal opens another chapter in PDP-APC rivalry in the state, Assistant Editor (South South), JOE EZUMA, writes.
The annulment of the 2015 Rivers State governorship election by the Justice Mohammed Ambrusa-led Election Petitions Tribunal on Saturday, October 24, 2015, may have opened another chapter in the unceasing impasse between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
The governorship election in which PDP candidate, Nyesom Wike, was declared winner has been hotly contested by his APC counterpart, Dakuku Peterside.
Matters came to a head when the tribunal nullified the election of Wike and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election in the state.
The tribunal held that the April 11, 2015 governorship election that produced Wike was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act. It further said it agreed with Peterside and his party, APC, that the election was characterised by intimidation, harassment, snatching of ballot boxes, diversion of electoral materials, ballot stuffing and allocation of figures in favour of the PDP candidate.
The failure to use the card-reader as instructed by the INEC robbed the election of its credibility and made the outcome a sham and a mockery of democracy, it added.
Besides, the tribunal held that the petitioners had, through their witnesses, established allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, and that the petitioners adduced credible evidence backed by documents to prove that Wike was wrongly declared winner of the election.
Since the ruling, each party has been at each other’s throat in the propaganda war. While the APC seems to be counting its chickens before the judicial eggs are completely hatched, PDP has not lost hope. If any, it is still imbued with optimism.
Wike and the state chairman his party, Felix Obuah, exuded this optimism in their early reactions to the tribunal’s decision. In his broadcast to the people of the state, Wike said: “We all know that on April 11, 2015, Rivers people in their millions joined the rest of the country and enthusiastically participated in electing their governor and members of the House of Assembly.
“Apart from the reported malfunctioning of the card-readers supplied by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which placed no advantage on any of the contestants, the election took place throughout the state and was adjudged by both local and international observers to be largely peaceful, transparent, free, fair and credible.
“Following the success of the election, I was returned as duly and lawfully elected by the INEC, having satisfied all the necessary legal requirements.
“We shall prevail and retain our mandate.”
Obuah, in his reaction to the judgment, urged the Rivers electorate and PDP supporters to remain calm, assuring that the party would surmount judicial roadblocks before it. In his words, “Despite the obvious gang-up against the party, Governor Nyesom Wike and the state lawmakers by the enemies of progress, there is no cause for alarm.”
The chairman called on members of the party and Rivers electorate to remain resolute, maintaining that Wike, the party and all the PDP lawmakers would be victorious at the end of the day.
APC celebrates
The APC in the state said it had been vindicated by the judgment of the tribunal that there was no election in the state. It dedicated the victory at the tribunal to its members who lost their lives during the election.
“We wish to formally dedicate the tribunal judgment to our over 100 members killed by agents of Wike and PDP and wish to reiterate that their death shall never be in vain as we are determined to instal, by the grace of God and with the help of the good people of Rivers State, a God-fearing administration that will take Rivers to the next level,” the party said in a statement issued by its chairman, Dr. Davies Ikanya.
Ikanya was not alone in the excitement. For Alex Wele, APC chieftain in Port Harcourt, the annulment of the election was a true reflection of what passed for election in Rivers in April. Wele said the APC would win a re-run in the state under free and fair election.
On his part, coordinator of Ogoni People Forum, Celestine Akpobari, said the nullification of the election by the tribunal should serve as a lesson for INEC to always work to promote the principles of credible election.
The environmental rights activist noted that what happened in Ogoniland during the poll was rather a war than an election, wondering whether it was guns that voted in the election INEC claimed took place in the community.
Princewill joins the fray
Apparently agreeing with the ruling by the tribunal, Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in the election, Prince Tonye Princewill, who did not go to the tribunal alongside the APC and other dissenting parties, asked Wike not to appeal the decision.
“Any lover of true democracy and justice who witnessed what happened will not be surprised by the judgment. I belong to that group. The elections were neither free nor fair nor credible, so they can’t stand honest scrutiny. I have said this repeatedly. The APC won the case for all of Rivers State, kudos to them.
“In 2007, I fought PDP to a standstill and the same people in the APC today were also the beneficiaries of that fight. It is not about persons or political parties. It is about the state. I am not thinking like APC or PDP. I did not say I am celebrating or disappointed by the judgment. I said I am not surprised by it. But in Rivers politics, some analog politicians cannot understand the difference,” Princewill said.
PDP has incidentally gone to the Appeal Court, throwing wide open the terrain of controversy. While the party’s supporters interpret striking off certain points in the decision by the tribunal judgment as a window of victory, the APC still celebrates the tribunal’s decision.
The party has, in fact, called on the PDP and its lawyers to stop deceiving the public on developments at the Appeal Court.
