By Jackson Udeani – The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State has urged the people in the state vote for its candidates in the rescheduled elections into State and National Assembly, saying that doing so would avenge the death over 100 of its members that died during the last governorship elections in the state.
In a statement signed by its State Chairman, Dr. Davis Ibiamu Ikanya, and issued on Monday in Port Harcourt, the party appealed for support of all its candidates in the election.
“We had hoped that the Supreme Court would align itself with the position of local and international observers, as well as the Election Tribunal and Appeal Court, all of whom agreed that what took place in Rivers State in the name of elections in March and April 2015 was a sham but that hope did not materialize, thus robbing the good people of the State of the opportunity to elect a Governor of their choice.
“While we have accepted the Supreme Court’s position, we wish to appeal to the Rivers electorate to avenge the over 100 of our members whose lives were cut short because of the so called 2015 elections by overwhelmingly rejecting PDP and voting for APC candidates during the re-run State and national Assembly polls now scheduled to hold on March 19. This is the only way to ensure that the death of the over 100 democracy martyrs was not in vain,” Rivers APC said.
The party insisted that PDP does not deserve to win even one seat during the re-run elections as the party does not have the interest of Rivers people at heart, accusing PDP of ceding of oil wells belonging to the State to Bayelsa and other neighbouring states.
“We trust the discerning Rivers electorate to make the right choice by voting only APC candidates during the forthcoming re-run elections. Our candidates are trusted leaders that have proven themselves in past assignments and we are very convinced that they will provide the type of leadership needed at this time to move both Nigeria and Rivers State forward,” the party said.
Rivers APC praised the Secretary of the Ekiti State Chapter of PDP, Dr. Temitope Aluko, for summoning the courage to go public with details of how the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti was brazenly rigged to put Ayo Fayose in power. It, however, noted that what happened in Ekiti was a child’s play compared to what APC suffered last year in Rivers State. “Nigerians should prepare for a bombshell when the Rivers State episode is revealed in the nearest future,” the statement said.
