Atiku wins Rivers as collation ends in chaos

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has won the presidential election in Rivers State.

Mr Abubakar scored 473,971 to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress who had 150,710 votes.

The state collation officer, Enefiok Essien, declared the results on Tuesday evening, three days after the collation exercise started in Port Harcourt. The collation exercise ended in chaos as APC agents protested the deletion of the controversial Emohua Local Government Area results.

Out of the 23 LGAs in the state, Mr Abubakar won 14 while Mr Buhari took three after Emohua LGA was removed.

There were no results collated from six LGAs: Bonn, Asari Toru, Okrika, Ikwerre and Ahoada West, and Emohua.

The LGAs Mr Atiku won included Oyigbo (APC – 3520; PDP – 16,102), Omuma (APC – 2494; PDP – 15322), ONELGA (APC – 10996; PDP – 28536), and Eleme (APC – 2412; PDP – 8464). PDP also won Gokana (APC – 9328; PDP – 10276) and Etche (APC – 7163; PDP – 11135).

He also took Governor Nyesom Wike’s Obio Akpor (APC – 6875; PDP – 69981) and party chairman Uche Secondus’ Andoni (APC – 10766; PDP – 72330).

Then, he also had Khana (APC – 5329; PDP – 89843), Ogu Bolo (APC – 2148; PDP – 8221), Tai (APC – 2564; PDP -45049), Degema (APC – 7298; PDP – 14083), Port Harcourt City (APC – 10742; PDP – 46851), and Ahoada East (APC – 4693; PDP – 10612).

Mr Buhari won Opobo/Nkoro (APC – 3,706; PDP – 3,573), Asari Toru (APC- 8,180; PDP – 3,175) and Obua Odua (APC – 42,496; PDP – 20,416).

Elections did not hold in Bonny and Akuku Toru LGAs due to violence. In Okrika, Ikwerre and Ahoada West LGAs, the EOs, who did not come with their respective COs, said there was nothing to show election held. They accused “PDP and APC” supporters of shootings and the Nigerian Army of violent disruptions of collation exercise.

In Emohua, where Mr Buhari had earlier been announced to have won with 72,745 votes, while Mr Abubakar came far behind with 7,148 votes, Mr Essien said the results would be dropped because the ward collation officers wrote a report that no collation took place.

He had on Monday night said the results from Emohua would be recorded and the controversy around them escalated to the national collation centre in Abuja.

The agent of the APC, Samson Ngerebara, challenged Mr Essien’s decision to reverse himself but nothing came of his effort.

“If you want to make yourself the tribunal, sit now and start to Investigate all the results,” said Mr Ngerebara. “I have the recording of all you said last night.”

“You mutilated results against our President Muhammadu Buhari,” another one said.

Mr Essien was escorted out of the collation centre by armed security agents as APC agents moved to stop his exit, bringing the exercise to a chaotic end.

Journalist and observers ran out of the centre through the windows.

Rivers State has 3,125,278 registered votes. But the voter turnout was low as the exercise on Saturday was marred by widespread violence, which claimed several lives. According to the state collation officer, Mr Essien, only 677,743 voters were accredited for the presidential election, amounting to 21 per cent of the registered voters.

The LGA collation officers and electoral officers lamented the violence and irregularities that marred the polls in their respective areas.

In the 2015 presidential election, APC polled an insignificant 69,238 against PDP’s 1.4 million