Nigeria: Jitters In Rivers Over Amaechi, Princewil

GOVERNOR Celestine Omehia's administration in Rivers State, one of the key oil and gas-producing states in Nigeria, which appears to be standing on a feet of clay since the outcome of the largely disputed April 14 elections that brought him to power, is currently jittery.

Also jittery is the country's electoral agency-Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body that presided over the widely disputed general elections during the dying days of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

Some concerned establishment sources say with the nation's apex court determined to press ahead with the law suit of the immediate past Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rotimi Amaechi, challenging his alleged illegal and unconstitutional substitution as well as the seeming startling discoveries of the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate-Prince Tonye Princewill- legal team, both Omehia and INEC are allegedly said to be developing cold feet.

Some who appear to know better say it has become confusion galore and uneasy calm within the uncertain official circles of the state government and INEC. AC, the leading opposition party in the state, is on the upbeat following what they see as the ''shocking discovery'' of their legal team. The party is claiming that what their legal panel discovered is ''wanton, massive and unprecedented electoral fraud'' allegedly committed by a coalition of the desperate Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and INEC against the people of Rivers during the so called gubernatorial election in the state where Sir Celestine Omehia was said to have been returned as the governor of the state with over 90% total votes cast, and all the other parties sharing among themselves less than 10% of total votes''.

From the AC camp came the claim that the news of their governorship candidate having traveled to London to import a data capturing machine to be used in exposing the alleged massive thumb printing by very few individuals in favour of the PDP and to engage the services of experts in hand writing dictation to dictate and expose that only ten people wrote the gubernatorial election results in Rivers, has unsettled and nearly brought down activities of INEC in River.

''This situation necessitated the arranging and summoning of an unusual emergency meeting of INEC electoral officials with some elements from undisclosed quarters on July 4, 2007 to decide on what steps to take to forestall the obvious public ridicule that awaits the body over the discoveries of unprecedented fraud by AC legal team'', Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, Princewill's media consultant said on Monday in Port Harcourt.

At the said meeting, AC is alleging that INEC decided to adopt the following strategies –
*To delay the course of the Tribunal by asking for time to reply to AC’s petition which was filed for over a month knowing very well that technically that they are submitting their response to our petition behind the stipulated time and such repose will be struck out accordingly but the main reason is to waste time in order for the body to continue rewriting the results and correct the obvious falsely filled documentss.

*To disobey the order of the Tribunal by denying the AC Legal Team inspected documents already certified by the INEC Administrative Secretary in order to buy more time to enable them to continue with the alteration and rewriting of the documents to achieve an already predetermined purpose.

On Thursday the July 5, 2007; INEC through their Lawyer, allegedly alerted the election tribunal of their intention to request for time to file a reply to AC’s petition which was served on INEC over a month ago, and that the next day Friday, July 6, 2007 the already certified copies of inspected 10 local government areas that were ought to be collected by AC’s legal team was denied them in line with the alleged resolution of the INEC meeting of Wednesday, July 4, 2007.

With these seeming sad developments it is looking as if the alleged INEC fraudulent acts during the gubernatorial election in Rivers were wickedly manipulated by some INEC officials. ''We have observed that most of the results as contained in forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C were all mutilated, altered and does not tally to corresponding information contained in the distribution register- form EC25 and that it as very obvious even to a kayman that very few people wrote the results of the various levels of the election and facts abound to show that there were over voting in some units'', AC said.

While the electoral commssion's defence counsels are claiming that election materials were distributed within hours of 7am and 8 am with election commencing thereafter, PDP their supposed ally is saying that materials were distributed within 8 am to 10 am and election commenced thereafter.

Like Amaechi, Princewill seems to be determined to see the end of this seeming macabre dance in Rivers, and he also appears to have concluded arrangement to get the data capturing machine into the country before the end of this week. Apparently spurred, the AC big wigs say they are very convinced that tINEC and their allies will not have any hiding place by the time the party is through with them at the tribunal.

''We will like to assure the people of Rivers that we are ready to do anything within the laws to restore their stolen mandate not minding that today the life of our gubernatorial candidate and those of some of our key officials are on the line'', the party said, alleging that most of their key witnesses are being threatened, intimidated and offered all sort of bribes including juicy government appointments.

According to the AC, ''we are not in this struggle for what we intend to make out of governance but to bring justice, hope, development to our people and no amount of threat or bribery or intimidation will deter us from achieving our purpose of exposing the wicked act perpetuated against our people in the name of election''.

In a veiled attack on the immediate past Peter Odili administration, the party alleged that because of the fraudulent and visionless governance that was ''our lots these past eight years, our beloved state has become a laughing stock within the comity of nations. Our state is now noted for hostage taking that sounds alien to us, and we are being told of billions of Naira accruing to us as a state but no meaningful development to show for it''.

ENDS

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