Inec plans to hold supplementary elections in Rivers State on April 13 as it releases fresh timetable

NIGERIA'S Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) organise supplementary elections in Rivers State on April 13 in what is now becoming the longest running saga in the history of the country's democracy.

On March 9, Nigerians went to the polls to elect governors in 29 states but in six states, the results were declared inconclusive and supplementary elections have been planned for March 23. However, in Rivers State, the situation is more complicated and Inec had planned to resume collating results there but the bickering between the parties there is intense.

After lengthy deliberations on how to proceed, it appears that Inec has finally decided to resume collating results for 21 constituencies in which the governorship and state assembly elections were accepted between April 2 and 5. Elections in any areas under dispute will then hold on April 13, with a winner expected to be announced a few days later.

Inec set up a fact-finding committee that visited the state and submitted its report which revealed that while elections could not hold in a few areas, they were successfully concluded in others with the declaration of winners in 21 state constituencies. Announcing the outlined activities and timeline to resolve the electoral logjam in the state, the Inec's national commissioner in charge of information and voter education Festus Okoye, said the commission will on March 30 meet with critical actors in the state after which it will release guidelines for the continuation of the process.

Mr Okoye noted that there will also be an inter-agency meeting between the commission and other agencies a day before the stakeholders meeting in Rivers State. he added that the revalidation of observers will be done simultaneously in Abuja and Rivers State between March 25 and March 31.

Over the last fortnight, the Rivers State chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have disagreed over the new timeline given by Inec to conclude elections in the state. Chris Finebone, the publicity secretary of the River State chapter of the APC, said Inec's announcement was suspect and received with mixed feelings, since it had not shown sufficient good faith, while Felix Obuah, the chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the PDP said his members received the news with optimism.

Mr Finebone,  said: “As a major stakeholder in the Rivers State political space, APC received with mixed feelings, Inec’s timeline for concluding the governorship and house of assembly elections that started on March 9. Inec has not shown sufficient good faith in the way it brought the collation to an abrupt stop on March 10, without cogent, verifiable and convincing reasons."

“Why is Inec jittery to name the 17 local government areas, if not for the simple reason that some underhand dealings might have taken place, for which it is covering up? With the violation of the collation process by Governor Nyesom Wike when he stormed the Obio/Akpor collation centre at the council’s secretariat in Rumuodomaya, Port Harcourt in the night of March 9, where his chief security officer and security detail shot an army captain and other soldiers in the process. Why does it seem that Inec’s body language is suggesting that Obio/Akpor LGA’s collation has been completed?"

Mr Obuah added: “Even though we frown at the length of the timeline issued by Inec for the collation, declaration and conclusion of the election process in Rivers State, we received the news with optimism. Rivers State PDP is waiting patiently for the process to be concluded, because the people of Rivers State overwhelmingly voted for our party.

“We urge Rivers people to remain calm, as the mandate they freely gave to Governor Wike and the PDP on March 9 will be affirmed at the end of the collation process. Victory for the PDP will come at the end of the exercise and the people massively voted for the PDP, as all the figures indicate.”