The All Progressives Congress (APC), on Monday, called for the cancellation of the April 11 Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the call at a news conference in Lagos.

 
Mohammed described the elections in Rivers and Akwa Ibom as mockery and a mere charade.

He said the elections were not conducted in accordance with the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) guidelines.
 
“While the elections went on smoothly in most parts of the country, the situation was different in some others, where all that took place was nothing but mock elections; a mere charade!

“Two of the states that witnessed such caricature of elections are Rivers and Akwa Ibom, where elections were not conducted in accordance with INEC guidelines.

“Because of this, we in the APC are left with no choice than to demand the immediate cancellation of the purported elections in the two states’’, he said.

He contended that “unimaginative terror’’ was unleashed on the electorate, in particular on APC members and supporters during the conduct of the elections in Rivers.

The APC spokesman said contrary to the directive by INEC that Card Readers be used for the elections, the machines were discarded in Rivers.  

“This is why the voter turnout for Rivers, as announced by INEC, stood at more than 75 per cent compared with the national average of between 25 and 35 per cent.

“Gentlemen, because of these and other anomalies, we hereby unequivocally demand for the cancellation of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State’’, he said.

Mohammed added that election materials were not supplied to most of the polling units in all the three senatorial districts in Akwa Ibom.

“In former Gov.Victor Attah’s Ward in Ibesikpo Asutan, three contiguous polling units did not receive election materials.

“In most of the polling units in Oruk Anam, which is the home local government area of Atuekong Etiebet and Chief Soni Udom, Director-General of the APC Governorship Campaign Organisation, most of the polling units did not receive election materials.

“Election materials were also not supplied to most polling units in Itu, Ibiono Ibom, Ikot Ekpene, Esisien Udim, Uyo, Eket, Abak, Nsit Ibom, Etinan, Esit Obolo, Ibeno, Nsit Attai, Ikono, Ini’’, he noted.

The APC spokesperson said that in areas where polling materials were received, “hordes of deadly armed thugs’’ stormed the polling units and carted away the election materials midway into the accreditation process.

Mohammed advised INEC to concern itself with possible negative public perceptions of the elections in the two states.

He urged INEC to take every necessary step to protect the integrity of the elections as a way of strengthening the trust of the electorate in the voting process.