“INEC, Wike Plotting to Rig Gov’ship Election”, 5 Strong Political Parties Allege

• The governor of Rivers state and the nation's electoral umpire has been slammed with fresh allegations
• This is as five political parties raised an alarm over an alleged plot by Governor Nyesom Wike and INEC to rig the March 18 election
• Meanwhile, the coalition of five political parties in Rivers raised this alarm on Wednesday, March 15, a few days before the March 18, 2023 governorship and state house of assembly elections in the state

Five opposition political parties in Rivers State have vowed to resist any attempt to rig the March 18 governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the state.

The parties at a joint press briefing in Port Harcourt on Wednesday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of colluding with the state government to compromise the election.

The parties say INEC, Wike plotting to rig the election

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The parties are the All Progressives Congress, the National Rescue Movement, the Labour Parry, African Democratic Congress and the Action Alliance, a report by THE PUNCH confirmed.

Speaking, the APC governorship candidate, Tonye Cole, accused the State Governor, Nyesom Wike, of planning to clamp down on opposition parties during the poll, The Nigerian Tribune report added.

Cole said,

“INEC should assure us that the BVAS will work this time and that results will be uploaded at the polling units.

“Then there should be adequate security at the Local Government collation centres on March 18.”

Presidential election: Atiku, PDP give up on suit seeking to inspect INEC materials

In another development, the suit seeking to inspect INEC's material used during the February 25 presidential polls filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has been withdrawn.

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The counsel of Atiku and the PDP told the Court of Appeal in Abuja that they were no longer willing to push for the case.

Making this known during the session at the appellate court, the counsel for Atiku, led by Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN), notified the court that they had already filed a notice of discontinuance.

INEC chairman releases list of states where governorship elections will not hold, gives reason

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has announced that the March 18 governorship elections will hold in 28 states.

Mahmood disclosed this during the meeting of the inter-agency consultative committee on election security which was held at the INEC conference room, in Abuja, on Tuesday, March, 14.

The INEC boss said the governorship election will not hold in eight states. He explained that the guber elections in the affected states are held off-cycle and not during the general election.

Source: Legit.ng