A faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State loyal to Chibuike Amaechi, former transportation minister, has described the recent verdict of the Supreme Court confirming the election of Governor Sim Fubara, as the end of the quest for governorship in the state, for now.
In a statement, Darlington Nwauju, the spokesman of the faction, urged the winner, Sim Fubara, to begin rebuilding the state and healing the wounds.
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“The Supreme Court of Nigeria has brought the 10 months old struggle over the rightful occupant of the governorship seat of Rivers State to an end.
“We all know it is the final court of the land and there must necessarily be an end to litigations. We are extremely grateful and indebted to our solid followership for their resilience and extraordinary courage in the face of temptations and trials.”
The statement said the party ran an election in the face of draconian executive orders and intimidation from institutions that should ordinarily be neutral.
“We thank the Nigerian media for coming to our aid and reporting the countless infractions, which included the bombing of our campaign venue at Rumuwoji, assault and arrest of our supporters, party leaders and even candidates.”
The factional APC spokesman gave examples of the acts of violence in 2023, different from their claim of death of over 100 party loyalists in 2015. He named one Emeka Eddeh (PHALGA Constituency 1 Assembly candidate) and member, Osorochi Amadi (Ikwerre LGA party secretary), who he said were illegally detained on the eve of election.
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He said one Okorinama West (Asari-Toru Constituency 2 Assembly candidate) had his vehicle shattered by bullets of gunmen in a failed assassination attempt.
“The height of these unprovoked attacks was the killing in broad daylight of one of our local government campaign coordinators, Chiosom Lennard Tabele, and three others namely, Esor Godspower Ajahu, Okpara Chienyere, and Goodnews Michael Okpara, who were killed in Ahoada-West LGA on election day. Sadly, no single arrest has been made till date and security agencies seem to have swept these heinous incidences under the carpet.
“Going forward, we congratulate Governor Fubara on his affirmation by the Supreme Court and call on him to immediately begin a genuine process of healing and reconciliation by immediately setting-up an independent panel to identify victims of electoral violence across the 23 LGAs in order to appropriately/adequately compensate all victims of election-related violence in Rivers State irrespective of their political party affiliation.
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“We appeal to our numerous supporters across the state to await further directives as the leadership and critical stakeholders consult on the way forward. We shall surely overcome.”
