Abuja, Nigeria, March 17 (Infosplusgabon) Nigeria s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday accused the Nigerian Army and armed gangs of disrupting the March 9 governorship and State House of assembly elections in the Niger Delta region of Rivers. INEC s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye, said in a statement that collation centres were invaded by some soldiers and armed gangs resulting in the intimidation and unlawful arrest of election officials thereby disrupting the collation process. "Consequent on the foregoing, the Commission expresses its pleasure on the role played by some soldiers and armed gangs in Rivers State disrupting the collation process and attempting to subvert the will of the people. 1 / 7
Rivers State is the stronghold of the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the home State of the Director General of President Muhammadu Buhari s campaign organization and Federal Minister of Transport, Mr Rotimi Amechi. The Rivers State government, through the Director of Information and Communication of PDP Rivers State, Barr. Emma Okah, had in a Press Statement in February accused the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army of planning to rig the election in favour of another political party. Even though the ruling party, APC, were barred by the Supreme Court from fielding election in the March 9 State elections, it adopted another party platform and some soldiers and armed thugs allegedly aided politicians in various forms of election malpractices. 2 / 7
He added that the commission will engage the security agencies at national level and the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee at the State level to demand neutrality and professionalism of security personnel in order to secure a peaceful environment for the completion of the elections. In the February 23 and March 9 general elections, the Nigerian Army was accused by opposition parties and election observers of being willing tools of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), in the widespread violence, intimidation and malpractices that marred the election, an accusation the Army had consistently denied. 3 / 7
But faced with viral evidence and mounting witnesses to its involvement in electoral violence and malpractices, the Nigerian Army on Friday set up a special eight-member committee to investigate allegations of misconducts against its soldiers and officers during the 2019 General Election. The committee, mandated to investigate all allegations of misconduct against the Nigerian Army during the just concluded general elections, is to submit its report not later than 31st of March, 2019. The Nigerian Army Spokesperson, Col. Sagir Musa, said Friday that the investigation panel is imperative as the Army is an institution renowned for fairness and timely intervention. 4 / 7
INEC, Mr Okoye said, therefore has resumed the process of final collation of the results of the Rivers State Governorship and State Assembly election it suspended last Sunday after the disruption by some soldiers and armed thugs. According to him, the commission on March 10 suspended all electoral processes in Rivers, having determined that there was widespread disruption of collation of results of the elections and subsequently set up a Fact-Finding Committee to assess the situation and report back within 48 hours. 5 / 7
He said the commission met on the 15 March, considered the report of the committee and established that the elections took place in most of the polling units and results were announced. That the results from 17 Local Governments out of 23 are available and are in the Commission s custody; that the Declaration and Returns for 21 State Constituencies out of 32 were made prior to the suspension; that collation centres were invaded by some soldiers and armed gangs resulting in the intimidation and unlawful arrest of election officials thereby disrupting the collation process, Okoye said. FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/PRE/GABON2019 6 / 7
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