The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has called on all men of goodwill to rise and save the state from the clutches of those he called evil and an impending doom.

Peterside, who described the political turmoil in the state as the result of the desperation of some people who want to get power by all means, even at the cost of human life, called on the world to come to the rescue of the state.

He made the statement in Port Harcourt yesterday during a protest march to the state’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by APC members, who were demanding total cancellation of the election.

Peterside described the Presidential and National Assembly elections last Saturday in Rivers State as a farce and called on Professor Attahiru Jega and INEC to cancel forthwith, the highly compromised elections because it was a sham.

He said reports from every part of the state showed that voting did not take place.

According to him, what happened on Saturday was that members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with the apparent connivance with security operatives, took result sheets to private homes of PDP members and entered results in the name of election.

He reminded Nigerians that injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere, urging everybody to rise in defence of the disenfranchised, marginalised and oppressed people of Rivers State.

“I did not vote, just like all our members, including Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. I was only accredited and shortly after, hoodlums suspected to be PDP thugs invaded the place. The boys who invaded the centre were about 50 armed youths and the same thing was repeated in the entire Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency and across Rivers State.

“Our people refused to vote because they knew that result sheets were in the hands and homes of PDP members. Today, I led over 40 thousand people to INEC office to register our protest. I am sure our protest against this daylight robbery is receiving attention. Professor Jega said during a press conference that he has received our protest letter.

“Even our opponents know that there was no election in Rivers State. They will do a lot of damage to this electoral process and the nation in particular if anybody cooks up any figures for this election. All we are asking for is that we should be given opportunity to cast our votes like every other country. Let me say that I am very sure Buhari would have done well if elections had held in Rivers State.

“We are pleading with the world because what is happening in our state is most tragic. We have never had this level of violence, it is unprecedented. Over 10 people died, over 50 APC members were arrested. It is clearly the desperation of some people who want to get power by all means, even at the cost of human lives. And if you do a check, you will discover that all those who died or sustained injuries are all members of the APC.

“All we are asking for is inclusion in our country’s electoral process. But we need to have confidence in the election umpires. We don’t have confidence in Mrs. Gesila Khan, sadly she has not shown that she is a woman of integrity and that is worrisome. But I am optimistic that we will get justice because the world already knows. So we are looking forward to a new date to cast our voters.”

•Photo shows Peterside

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