APC candidates threaten to stop ALL elections in Rivers unless included

The candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers say there will be no national, state and governorship elections in the state if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fails to relist them.

Henry Odili, APC candidate for Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni-Ahoada/West federal constituency, made this known at a news conference organised by the delisted APC candidates in Port Harcourt on Thursday.

Odili said there was no court order stopping the primary elections that produced them as candidates.

He alleged that Nyesom Wike, Rivers governor, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had boasted that the APC would not have candidates in Rivers before the state high court gave the judgement that nullified the primary elections.

He said: “The electoral law was crafted such that the courts will not interfere with the electoral process but the courts in Rivers have willfully violated this.

“And this is affecting the rights of Rivers people to freely choose their leaders and representatives.”

Odili called on INEC to with immediate effect, render an apology to the APC and Rivers people, and also relist the party’s candidates in the state for the general election.

“We demand that INEC should give the same enabling time and environment for political campaigns to the APC in Rivers as they have given to the PDP and other parties,” he said.

“Should INEC fail to meet our demands, there will be no national, assembly and governorship elections in Rivers State.

“This is our position until all the cases pending before various courts have gone through to the apex court for final decisions, and our rights to fair hearing guaranteed.”