The Accord Party in Rivers State has denied being part of protests by some persons who are asking that the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Obo Effanga, be retained in Rivers State.
The pro-Effanga protests held in Port Harcourt , the Rivers State capital, on Wednesday.
This is against widespread accusations that the REC and several Heads of Departments of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Rivers State have been compromised and should, therefore, be redeployed. Effanga, whose retention in the state by the Commission has brewed tension, also stands accused of tampering with the results of the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections since after the suspension of the elections, to favour Governor Nyesom Wike. .
The Accord Party, in a statement on Wednesday signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Dason Nemieboka, said that at no time did it send its members to the streets on such exercise. Instead, the party said that those who carried the party’s logo at the said street protests were imposters, hoodlums and hired political jobbers and could not lay claim to genuine membership of the political party.
The statement said that such persons were only deceiving Rivers residents that Accord was part of what it said was a charade.
“The said gang of impostors were sighted amongst a group of sponsored protesters, bearing placards dubiously calling for the continuous stay of the now discredited Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr. Obo Effanga.
“Ordinarily, we would have ignored those whose stock in trade is deception and manipulation, but for the fact that they deliberately chose to smear our identity by pretending to have in their midst, members of our great party, the Accord.
“Rivers people know that the Accord is a unique and decent party, which upholds high ethical standards. Our modus operandi doesn’t include worthless protests in support of anti-people or democratic agents.
Nemieboka recalled that Accord had already issued a statement, categorically stating its stance on the suspended elections, in which it called for their outright cancellation.
“That is a clear vote of no confidence in the ability of the Resident Electoral Commissioner and his team”, the party’s statement said, adding that it “cannot therefore by any guise or format, be part of such infantile exercise.”
It further stated that a party led by Chief Dumo O.B. Lulu Briggs, and Chaired by Dr. Nnanna Onyekwere, could not be part of that charade.
While it called on security agents and the general public to note that no member of Accord was on the street calling for the retention of Mr. Effanga as Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State, or the continuation of the already discredited March 9, Governorship and State House of Assembly elections, Accord reiterated that the March 9 elections were “irrevocably” doomed and eventually buried on March 10, when the entire electoral process was suspended by INEC.
