Wike’s Rainbow Coalition member, Olaka Nwogu of PDP, wins Rivers Bye-election
As AA candidate rejects result, threatens legal action
By Daniel Abia P/Harcourt
An ally of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Barr Nyesom Wike, and member of the Rainbow Coalition, Senator Olaka Nwogu was on Saturday declared winner of the Rivers southeast senatorial bye-election held weekend.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared Nwogu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the winner of the election.
Out of more than 20, only four political parties and their candidates were cleared by the INEC to contest the June 20 bye-election, including the All Progressives Congress, the People’s Democratic Party, Action Alliance and the Labour Party
The Bye-election was conducted to fill up the vacant position created following the sudden death of the former representative of the Senatorial District, Senator Barry Mpigi, who died on in February this year.
The election covered seven local government areas that make up the Rivers South-East senatorial District which include Khana, Gokana, Tai. Eleme, Andoni. Oyigbo and Opobo.
INEC’s Returning Officer for the election, Professor Rosemary Ogu, announced the result at the Rivers South East Senatorial Collation Centre at the Khana Local Government Council Secretariat in Bori, Rivers State on Saturday night and declared that Nwogu Olaka Johnson of the PDP secured 46,961 votes to emerge as the winner of the election.
Nwogu defeated his closest rival, Osarokaka Ebenezer Erewari of the APC, who polled 1,647 votes.
According to Ogu, “The election was contested. The candidates received the following votes. Douglass Fabeke, Male of the political party, AA, received a total of 1175. OsaroKaka Ebenezer Erewar, male, of the APC political party, 1647 votes. Sam Kinani, male, of the LP political party, 367 votes. Nwogu Olaka Johnson, male, of the PDP political party, 47961 votes.
“That Nwogu Olaka Johnson of the PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.
Nevertheless, the INEC said it is putting measures in place to address glitches arising from the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System in order to ensure a smooth electoral process.
The Head of Department, Voter Education in INEC, Rivers State, Geraldine Ekelemo, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen during an inspection tour of some participating LGAs in the Senatorial District alongside the INEC National Commissioner representing the South-South, May Agbamu he-Mbu.
Ekelemu said INEC made provisions for backup B-VAS machines, saying the devices can be reconfigured in cases where the primary B-VAS malfunctions.
She said, “Concerning the hitches, INEC was proactive. The technical hitches that we saw with one or two polling units and the B-VAS assigned to that particular polling unit, INEC was proactive in ensuring that backup B-VAS were supplied and distributed to each of these LGAs.
“And we had technical staff on the ground in each of these LGAs to quickly reconfigure another B-VAS to replace the malfunctioning B-VAS.
“Each of the seven LGAs had additional B-VAS to serve as backups. These are all the things INEC is doing to ensure that those gaps are
“Each of the seven LGAs had additional B-VAS to serve as backups. These are all the things INEC is doing to ensure that those gaps are immediately closed”.
Meanwhile, the AA candidate, Douglas Fabeke has rejected the result of the election citing electoral fraud and INEC’s compromise. “Regrettably, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has once again fallen short of expectations.
It appears that INEC faced significant challenges, including insufficient funds to cover logistics for transporting materials to various wards which we assisted them when those materials were left on the road with staff. There were also allegations of INEC officials relocating to private hotel accommodations to manipulate results”.
Fabeke alleged that “INEC was accused of facilitating vote buying, allowing materials to be taken to private homes, and instructing polling unit officials not to upload results as required. We intend to take all necessary steps to expose this malfeasance. The truth behind this flawed electoral system will be laid bare globally.
“I have instructed our polling unit agents and Local Government Area collation agents not to sign any documents that may compromise our position. The evidence we present will determine whether INEC is prepared for the 2027 elections.
“In light of these irregularities, I unequivocally reject this undemocratic electoral process and call for the outright cancellation of the election, pending the presentation of our evidence”, he said.
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