There have been series of protests in Calabar,t eh Cross River State capital, by aggrieved candidates of some political parties who are not satisfied with the handling of the elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The situation is worse at the central and southern senatorial districts of the state where some youths have seized the streets, warning INEC not to announce results that do not conform with the decision of the people at the various polling units.
In the Abi/Yakurr axis, for instance, the life of the returning officer, Prof. Emmanuel Duru, remains under threat.
Duru insisted he will not announce results prepared for him by agents of the government.
on Sunday night, Duru disappeared and went into hiding.
But on Monday, he resurfaced and was to be moved into Ugep, the constituency collation centre, where he was again told at gunpoint to announce the results.
It was learnt that Duru was being manhandled by some youths, who mounted pressure on him to announce the results and declare the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bassey Ewah, as winner of the election, but he has stood his grounds, turning down all offers by the government.
The campaign organisation of Chief Alex Egbona, who ran against Ewah on the platform of the Labour Party has already alerted INEC of the goings on in the area.
The petition was signed by Chucks Agube, the organisation’s campaign director.
In it, Egbona said: “It was clear from the onset that there was a compromise or infiltration of some of your Commission’s personnel; this was evident in the skewed posting/deployment of ad-hoc staff to certain places to achieve a predetermined result. A clear example of this is the posting of the younger brother of Mr. Sunny Ude, a Personal Assistant to the Governor to the candidate’s polling unit as Assistant Presiding Officer. The likely effect of this is better imagined.
“Also, at Akarukpat polling unit, Agoi Ekpo (Mkpani/Agoi Ward) Mrs> Comfort Inika, a very well known PDP stalwart was one of the polling personnel who facilitated this monumental manipulation. For instance, whereas eight hundred people were accredited, Mrs. Inika declared that she had only 400 ballot papers. The Implication of this is that the remaining 400 ballots must have been handed over to the PDP.
“In Inyima Ward, the supervisor took away all the electoral personnel and materials in a vehicle belonging to the PDP Chapter Secretary to Ekori where they thumb printed the ballot papers and later appeared at the collation centre for collation.
“The INEC Electoral Officers (EOs) for Abi/Yakurr should also be asked why and how the result sheets did not come with the other materials. When we enquired about the result sheets we were told that the SPOs will bring them after accreditation.
“However, the curious and amazing fact was thatthe telephone number of the Abi LGA Electoral Officer remained switched off throughout the day. Our suspicion is that the Abi EO having given advantage to our opponents decided to be out of reach by switching off his phone.
“In Ediba and Itigidi in Abi Local Government, there was brazen and massive thumb printing of ballot papers notwithstanding the successful use of Card Readers prior to the announcement that manual accreditation and voting can be used.
“Hijack of electoral material: There was massive and criminal hijack of electoral materials across the wards of the Local Governments. For instance materials for Ntan, Ajere/Afrekpe andEpenti wards were hijacked and our supporters and Party Agents were beaten and thrown out of the polling areas after which the PDP candidate and his party members thumb printed the ballot papers as returns for an election that never took place. The story was not different in AgoiEbami where the materials and ballot box for the House of Representatives election were taken away by armed men, all these happened in Yakurr Local Government Area.
“Similarly, it was the same story and experience in Itigidi Council Ward in the Abi Local Government Area, the only difference is that our supporters were allowed to witness the accreditation exercise and were thereafter chased away before the commencement of voting. The above scenario did not however play out in three polling units namelyEmeni–Ebol, Levacha and Ekamine. This maltreatment of our supporters and Agents caused these two Agents to refuse to sign the result sheets, the Agents are EgbeKierian, Agba Motor Park;EnyaEkpenyong, LekpachielPlay ground.
“At Usumutong Ward, electoral materials were hijacked. The polling units where these happened are: Abeugo, Ebokwo, Egbezu, Enoikporotum, Abe-Ominimini and Abe Osim.
“In Adadama Ward, the materials were seized and later thumb printed in Architect Innocent Icha’s house and this continued till very late in the night.
“Sir, from the foregoing and having reviewed other issues arising from the conduct of the election under reference, we want to most humbly request you, Sir, to either cancel the entire result or cause another election to be conducted in the affected wards. This is the only way that the exercise can be seen to be credible and acceptable to the generality of our constituents anything short of this will be a rape on democracy and the denial of the right of the people to choose who represents them.
“Finally Sir, we have deliberately restrained ourselves from talking about the illegal use of security operatives including those who were suspected not to be official or legitimate security personnel.”
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress in the state has called for the cancellation of the presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.
The state Chairman of the APC, Pastor Usani Usani, in a chat with newsmen on Monday, said the call for the cancellation of the election in the state came on the heels of alleged mass rigging perpetrated by the ruling PDP in the state.
Usani said: “We would not accept the outcome of the elections because of mass falsification of election results by the PDP in Cross River. We reject it in its entirety because it doesn’t represent the true wishes of the people.”
The APC chairman further alleged that in some parts of the state, elections were conducted without result sheets.
He said: “In Yakurr, where I come from, and even Boki LGA, elections were conducted without result sheets accompanying electoral materials. This is fraud of the highest degree and we will not accept that.”
Usano also accused the state Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, of being the mastermind of the alleged electoral fraud in the state.
Usani said: “People came in Yakurr, wearing fake police uniform and carted away election materials with INEC staff pretending that the result was lost.
“In my community yesterday, I saw heavily armed men who snatched the ballot boxes and ran into the bush.
“At about 5am on Monday morning the convoy of the governor in company of certain men who disguised themselves in police uniform and went to the northern senatorial district to intimidate Party agents and induce INEC official to announce the result in favour of the PDP candidates.
“All these happen when they discovered that the PDP was going to lose. The entire electoral officers in Cross River states were submitted by the PDP. We will not accept the outcome of the elections.”
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