The duly nominated candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers say there will be no national, state and governorship elections in the state if INEC fails to relist them.
Mr Henry Odili, APC
candidate for Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni-Ahoada/West Federal Constituency made
the assertion at the news conference organized by the delisted APC
candidates in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Odili said that there was no court order stopping the primary elections that that produced them as candidates.
He
alleged that Gov. Nyesom Wike and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
had boasted that the APC would not have candidates in Rivers before the
State High Court gave judgment that nullified the primary elections.
According
to Odili, what has transpired between Wike, the courts and INEC is a
manifestation of the boast and his fear of going into the election
against APC candidates in Rivers.
“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,” he said.
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 2019 general elections.
“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.
“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,” he added.
Efforts to get reactions from INEC and PDP proved failed.
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