The electorate in Rivers State has been urged to emulate the people of Tai Constituency by overwhelmingly casting their votes for the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the forthcoming rerun elections in the state.

“By so doing, the Rivers electorate would have taken one more step towards saving our dear state from the grip of the callous and bloodthirsty Peoples Democratic Party,” Rivers APC said in a statement issued on Friday morning in Port Harcourt by the State Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.

The party was reacting to the declaration, earlier this week by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the result of Tai in the March 19, 2016 rerun legislative election remains valid, thus effectively terminating PDP’s attempts to truncate the people’s mandate freely given to APC. “We remain resolute that the good people of Tai have set in motion the chain of events to end the reign of terror, maladministration and savagery associated with the ill-fated PDP in Rivers State,” the statement said.

According to Rivers APC, “This call for the entire Rivers State people to emulate the Tai people in this regard becomes imperative now that the Rivers State Government has licensed killing in Rivers State, based on the statement credited to Dr. Austin Tam-George, Rivers State Commissioner for Information & Communication, that ‘the ongoing killings in Rivers State is a normal thing.’ For a government that is supposed to save lives and properties to state that killing of our people are normal simply demonstrates the height of insensitivity by this ONE CHANCE government in Rivers State.”

The statement commended INEC “for this boldness in the face of threat, intimidation and harassment by the blood thirsty PDP and Rivers State Government under the watch of Chief Nyesom Wike.”

Rivers APC also condemned “the unprovoked attack and burning of the home of former leader of Rivers State House Assembly, Dr Chidi Lloyd, in Akpabu Community of Emohua Local Government Area by the PDP agents.” It declared that “this act of lawlessness by the PDP Government in Rivers State is no longer acceptable to us and should be condemned by all and sundry. Dr Chidi Lloyd, whose only crime like others so far killed by the PDP agents, is that they belong to APC.”

Continuing, the party said: “We wish to urge and plead with the entire Rivers State to remain calm, peaceful and resolute in their determination to drive away the remnants of PDP from our dear state during the forthcoming rerun elections by voting only for APC candidates.

“In this light, we wish to admonish the leadership and members of Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI), the militant arm of Rivers State PDP, to stop further threat to the peace of Rivers State as evident in their recent press statement in which they threatened to unleash terror and mayhem if INEC goes ahead with the rerun election in the state. We wish to inform this callous group that it is no longer business as usual as the present leadership of the country’s security agencies are very capable of checking their excesses.”

Rivers APC in the statement condoled the Nigerian Police over the recent brutal killing of two of its personnel at Omoku. It urged the police “not to relent until criminals and PDP vandals are fished out and chased away from our dear state.”

•Photo shows Dr. Ikanya.

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