The Labour Party in Rivers State has responded to claims made by the factional Rivers State Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Chijioke Ihunwo, that he and some unnamed individuals wrote election results in favor of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidates in the 2023 general elections.
In a video that went viral on X, formerly known as Twitter, Ihunwo claimed on Saturday that the embattled Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, member representing Obio/Akpor Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Okey Chinda, and other PDP candidates did not win their elections.
According to the NYCN state chairman, the Labor Party won convincingly in Rivers State.
In response to Ihunwo’s assertions, the Labour Party stated that the fresh revelation verified the party’s undisputed victory in the state elections.
Gogo Wellington, the Publicity Secretary of the LP in Rivers State, believed that more truth would be disclosed.
“This to a large extent goes to confirm what we have been saying since the conclusion of the 2023 presidential and gubernatorial elections, that the Labor Party undoubtedly won the elections here in Rivers State.
“But the perpetrators of evil went ahead to do what they did in cohort with INEC to see that the will of the people is undermined.
“They declared whatever it is that they felt was for their good and called it the 2023 election result for Rivers State.
“I know as their fight deepens, more truth will be revealed.
“You see how he was casually just saying they are the ones that wrote the results for these persons.
“It is very sad that our democracy has plunged into this depth of misery,” he said.
In an interview with Platinum Times, the LP Publicity Secretary added that the party would not take laws into its hands but will wait for the actions of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the National Assembly, by way of electoral reforms.
He said, “Someone that was not a staff of INEC, someone that was not an electoral official in the course of the elections will just casually start making such pronouncements.
“But that is the reality we face in Rivers State. That is what we see during the conduct of every election.
“People, partisan persons will be given access to result sheets to undermine the will of the people and see to it that they manipulate the outcome of the elections.
“We are law-abiding citizens and we will not take laws into our hands.
“We watch and wait to see what INEC will do by way of electoral reform.
“We also watch and wait to see what the National Assembly will do by way of electoral reform, to see that these things do not repeat.”
Ihunwo is an ally of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
He joined the camp of the governor after the Rivers State House of Assembly served an impeachment notice on the governor on October 30, 2023, an action that resulted in the State Assembly becoming factionalized.
The political crisis in Rivers State is a result of the sudden crack in the relationship between Fubara and the former governor of the state, now Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike.