Rivers State Labour Party (LP) Gubernatorial Candidate, Tonye Princewill has rejected the March 28 Senate and House of Representative elections held in the state.

He said that the position was taken after a closed door meeting with all his local government representatives and an extended stakeholder engagement within the party.

Princewill said the decision was taken on the ground that the elections in Rivers State were largely neither free nor fair, and also not in accordance with the laid down electoral procedures.

Speaking through a press statement made available to News Express, Princewill said the party will be rejecting a large number of the national assembly results it participated in.

“The evidence to buttress the tribunal cases is now being collated and a team of five SANs (Senior Advocates of Nigeria), co-ordinated by the Rivers State party chairman, Prince Favour Reuben is being deployed to ensure we secure justice.”

He said further: “Our national assembly candidates trusted that INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) and the security agencies would protect them and provide for them a level playing field, but it was a surprise to see that not only did they not do so, their processes and equipment left them exposed, disenfranchised and ultimately short changed with results that clearly did not reflect the will of their people.

“As law abiding citizens, we have vowed to challenge, to the end, the injustices meted out to us through legal means and have no doubt that in the end, justice will prevail.”

According to him, “Labour Party supported the PDP candidate for President Jonathan and so we have no doubt that his overwhelming victory in Rivers State was inevitable. We demonstrated our political maturity in working with PDP, other parties and indeed even APC (All Progressives Congress) faithful in voting for him in a peaceful and orderly fashion.

“Aside from being our son, we believe he has not only done well, he has earned all our support. We only pray that our collective efforts are enough to lead him on to a national victory. For us it was never about the party, it was always about the person.”

He added: “It was particularly ironic to find ourselves in the same boat as the leadership of the APC in Rivers State, complaining about the conduct of an election when the same actors in the APC have been the same executors of similar injustices in the past.

“He without sin should cast the first stone. What goes rround clearly comes around, and I hope this will serve as a lesson for us all, including the PDP. In the end, power is simply transient and there are powers above powers. Justice comes in many forms.”

•Photo shows Princewill.

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