Rivers APC Not Part Of 2019 Elections Because They Didn’t Follow Due Process – Hon. Chikere
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for House of Representatives in Port-Harcourt Federal Constituency I of Rivers State in last Saturdays general elections, Hon. Ken Chikere, has said that the All Progressives Congress are not part of this year’s general elections in Rivers State because they did not follow due process in their primaries.
Hon. Chikere who spoke with newsmen after voting on Saturday in Unit 19, Ward 2, Orogbum in Port-Harcourt Federal Constituency I in Port-Harcourt City Local Government Area, said that what happened to APC was caused by members of the party.
He said: “APC shot itself on the foot. But there are other parties contesting… They should have followed due process. They didn’t. For the House of Representatives, I understand we are nine minus the APC, so, it’s a fair contest.
“For the APC, they removed themselves from the contest, (so), they should go back home and put their houses in order so that next time they would participate but they weren’t going to win here anyway”.
Hon. Chikere praised the peaceful conduct of the elections in his area but expressed displeasure with the failure of the INEC Card reader to capture fingerprints of voters.
Hon. Chikere said: “So far, so good…The stories we are hearing about some other places, we haven’t heard anywhere around here. The only issue is the card reader and it’s a shame that we do all sorts of things with our phones… and the card reader would not capture your fingerprints”.
The problem of the card reader was however, rectified as the card reader started functioning to capture the fingerprints of voters in the polling unit.
He said that he was impressed with the turn-out of voters at the election and expressed the hope that the choice of voters in the election would be respected.
Hon. Chikere said that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed readiness to conduct free and fair elections in Rivers State but expressed doubt about federal government’s commitment to free and fair elections.
He said: “They have (INEC officials) evinced that disposition to conduct a free and fair election. The other problem is whether the federal government through its other apparati would allow them do it, but I think when you look at the faces of those in INEC when they speak, you see there’s some honesty in them. They want to show individual and collective integrity (in conducting very free and fair elections).
