Peter Obi: LP accuses Wike of using 'soldiers and police' to rig election

The Chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Julius Abure, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to invalidate all unverified election outcomes in Rivers State, characterising the process as not only deceitful but also below par.

In addition, Abure accused the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, of utilising soldiers to coerce INEC officials and steal ballot papers, after observing the LP heading to victory in the state.

BusinessDay reports that the early results turned-in showed massive voting for Peter Obi of the LP.

What is going on in Rivers state?: In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, February 26, 2023, the LP chairman expressed his shock at the reports of incidents of thuggery and attacks unleashed by agents allegedly working for the state government across various polling units in the state.

Abure also highlighted that the Labour Party took specific notice of occurrences in locations such as Obio/Akpor, Khana, Eleme, Obigbo, Rumukoro, and many other areas where the party was reportedly in the lead in nearly all polling units, with substantial margins.

What he said: He said: “The leadership of the Labour Party is shocked by the revelations emanating from Rivers state after the presidential and national assembly elections which held on Saturday; where thugs believed to be agents of the state government invaded various polling units and collation centres, took away election materials including the results sheets, manipulated the BVAS machines and uploaded fake results in to the Central portal.

“Governor Nyesom Wike, faced with stark reality of defeat even in the polling units in his compound in Worji, where LP scored 323 votes against APC and PDP’s 5 and 2 votes respectively, he used the soldiers and police to intimidate, harassed and snatched ballot papers.

“Nigerians went into this election based on the assurances by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC that the deployment of BVAS was a perfect antidote to electoral malpractices in Nigeria, but what transpired across Nigeria, if allowed to stand is purely a betrayal of trust by millions of Nigerians on INEC.

“INEC’s staff were intimidated by these thugs in connivance with the military personnel and police officers who were deployed to protect them, into doing their bidding and were forced to manipulate the BVAS, being afraid of the consequences of their refusal. Some of these manipulations happened way into late in the night. We demand that INEC investigate these atrocities against Nigerian voters by the political class.

“We are therefore asking that INEC should rise to the occasion and cancel all the unverified and manipulated results arising from the presidential and national assembly elections in parts of Rivers state particularly in places like Obio/Akpor, Khana, Eleme, Obigbo and Rumukoro amongst others.”

Meanwhile: In another statement issued by the National of Secretary, Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim the party noted that it made inroads with high votes in most parts of Northern Nigeria. However, LP members were deliberately prevented from voting, chased away violently from polling units, or had ballot papers and boxes destroyed and burnt in others.

He cited Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa, Kano, Yobe and Edo states among places where such acts were rampantly perpetrated in violation of the electoral act 2022 as amended.