There was heavy shooting this Monday morning as fully armed youths invaded the Rivers State Office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state capital, Port Harcourt.

This was following protests by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the INEC office.

While APC is protesting the outcome of the March 18 Governorship and State Assembly elections, PDP is protesting to demand the joint inspection of election results and the Certified True Copies of result sheets for the just-concluded 2023 general elections.

The protesters blocked both the waterlines and GRA areas of Aba road, the two major access points to the INEC head office. No car was able to drive through that stretch of Aba road from the ground lanes, while those on the GRA flyover are trapped because there is no exit route.

The protest was led by the Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Edison Ehie who was re-elected in the March 18 election and Samuel Nwanosike, the Chairman of the Ikwerre Local Government Area.

Though the party won the governorship and State Assembly elections, the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly who jointly led the protest, demanded that INEC grant the party a joint inspection of the materials used in conducting the March 18 elections.

The protesters believed that their demand which is ahead of the expected visit of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship Candidate, Tonye Cole to the INEC office will introduce the level of transparency needed to forestall unnecessary litigations and arguments.

Apart from the demand for joint inspection of materials, some inscriptions on the placards displayed during the protest also request INEC to make available the Certified True Copies of results. (Based on reports by Vanguard and Channels TV)

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