INEC finally concludes Rivers rerun elections with PDP victory

The Peoples Democratic Party’s candidates in Saturday’s rescheduled Etche elections have defeated their All Progressives Congress, APC, counterparts, ending the bloody and much-condemned Rivers legislative rerun.

The Returning Officers appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission made the returns for Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency and Etche II State Constituency elections Sunday afternoon in Port Harcourt, after the collation exercise in Okehi, headquarters for the constituencies.

INEC moved the declaration of results to Port Harcourt amid threats of violence.

For the Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency, PDP’s Jerome Eke received 15,221 votes to defeat APC’s Ogbonna Nwuka with 6,220 votes.

The PDP also defeated APC in the Etche II poll with its candidate, Tony Ejiogu, scoring 4,162 votes to defeat Golden Chioma who contested on behalf of APC.

The results were sums of the outcomes of the Saturday’s supplementary elections and the December 10 polls.

INEC had, on December 10, conducted rerun polls in three senatorial districts, eight federal constituencies and 10 state constituencies in Rivers State, after the court annulled the March 2015 legislative elections in the volatile oil-rich state.

When the elections were first organised earlier in 2016, the exercise was marred by bloody violence that forced INEC to end the exercise mid-way before it was rescheduled to hold December 10.

Despite deployment of 28,000 security operatives for the rescheduled on December 10, it was attended by widespread irregularities and violence that claimed lives.

Apart from Etche where INEC just concluded election on Saturday, it took the commission more than five days to announce results in some of the other 20 constituencies.

“See you in 2019,” said Tonia Nwobu, the spokesperson for Rivers INEC, heaving a sigh of relief as she spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on telephone.