Stalwarts of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Port Harcourt on Friday to protest the continued refusal to grant them access to the Certified True Copies (CTC) of documents used in the recently concluded elections. They alleged that INEC was deliberately obstructing their ability to approach the Election Petitions Tribunal, noting that they have only 21 days to file their petitions.
The protest was led by the party’s governorship candidate in the March 18 poll, Tonye Cole, his running mate Dr. Innocent Barikor, state APC Chairman Emeka Beke, and State Publicity Secretary Darlington Nwauju. Speaking to journalists at the commission’s office on Aba Road, Cole said they were there to express “deep frustration” over the state INEC’s attitude. “We are time‑bound,” he explained. “We have 21 days from the declaration of results to file our petitions. Some of our House of Assembly candidates were declared on election day itself, yet two weeks have passed since we wrote to INEC requesting the CTC documents, and nothing has been done. No single CTC has been released, and we need these documents to prepare briefs for the courts and tribunals.”
Cole maintained that INEC had ignored a court order securing the release of the documents, describing the inaction as “suspicious.” “We have court orders that have been ignored. It tells me something is going on. As an independent election administrator, INEC must be fair,” he stressed, urging the commission to provide the documents promptly so the party can present its case at the tribunal. He added that the state Resident Electoral Commissioner had promised that something would happen by Monday, and the party would return then.
Cole also alleged irregularities in the March 18 election, citing Asari‑Toru as an example where “the results were totally changed.” He noted that the Director‑General protested at the collation centre, yet the results were still accepted. “Give us the documents so we can review what happened. Nobody is answering us; I am very suspicious,” he said.
State APC Legal Adviser Dike Iheanyichukwu echoed these concerns, suggesting that the state INEC might have been “compromised.” He warned that the party would shut down the commission’s office on Monday if their demands were not met. “We have applied for the CTC of EC8A, EC8B, EC8C, EC8D and other related series. INEC has not provided a single document, despite a court order compelling them to allow inspection. They are deliberately disobeying the law,” he declared. Iheanyichukwu questioned why the Resident Electoral Commissioner could not instruct his staff to release the CTC results, emphasizing that it is the party’s right to obtain them in order to file a petition. He warned that if the documents are not released, “by Monday we will barricade this place. No worker will enter here. They should be ready to kill all of us.”
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