Rivers State APC gubernatorial candidate, Dr Dakuku Peterside (3rd right) leading a protest march in Port Harcourt yesterday against INEC over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly polls in the state.

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega said yesterday that the commission was investigating allegations of elections irregularities in Rivers State by the All Progressive Congress (APC) and call for the cancellations of the polls.
Jega’s statement came even as aggrieved members of APC in the State took to the streets in Port Harcourt, yesterday to protest the conduct of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly election in the  state by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The protesters led by the APC governorship candidate in the state, Dr Dakuku Peterside and Senator representing Rivers South-East senatorial district, Senator Magnus Abe, marched to the INEC headquarters on Aba Road, Port Harcourt, demanding the cancellation of Saturday’s elections.
They were, however, prevented from gaining entrance into the INEC office by heavily-armed security personel who cordoned off the INEC office.
All roads leading to the INEC headquarters were being patrolled by security agents, while two lanes of Aba Road were blocked by two armoured tanks, forcing motorists to drive against traffic on the other two lanes.
The situation led to heavy traffic gridlock and snarl on the other two lanes.
The protesters who chanted “we want change” continually, accused INEC of being compromised by the state (PDP) and therefore demanded for fresh elections in the state.
Addressing journalists at the INEC’s entrance gate, Senator Abe said no election took place in the state.
“All what we are talking about is the fact that there was no election in Rivers State, and that the INEC has been totally compromised by the PDP. Now, you have seen it.
‘We have two agents here (in INEC), one was arrested and he is still in detention, the one that was here was pushed out and he is now outside.
‘Now, they told us results have been brought in here (to INEC), but APC has no representatives, but the governorship candidate of the PDP (Wike) is inside, PDP agents are inside.
“On Friday night, they (INEC) were giving out all our incident forms to PDP members and we went to complain that that kind of activities can not take place in the absence of the agents of other parties.
‘What kind of INEC do we have here? Even by today’s standard, this kind of election can not stand in Nigeria.
“There should be election in Rivers State. We have not voted. Nobody has voted. I have not voted. What results here they collating here?
Did you not go round yesterday (Saturday)? Did you not see confussion in the state? How many people were killed, the violence, the carting away of materials?”
While the protest was on at the INEC office, our correspondent confirmed that the state governorship candidate of the PDP, Chief Nyesom Wike and the Deputy Governor, Engr Tele Ikuru who recently defected to the PDP were in the INEC office.
When confronted why he was in the INEC office, Wike told our correspondent that he and Ikuru were agents of their party for the presidential election.
The protesters later moved to the Government House, Port Harcourt.
The protest was a fall-out of the boycott of the election by the APC in the state over alleged electoral irreguarlities, arisig from non-availability of results sheets, intimidation and molestation of APC members resulting into death of some people including a soldier.
At Ubima, the hometown of the state governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Amaechi, the result sheets were not available. The governor refused to be accredited at unit 14, ward 18, after INEC officials failed to produce results sheets for the election.
The same problem occurred at Beere in Khana Local Government area, and Ndoni in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA where Senator Magnus Abe and APC chairman in the state, Dr Davies Ibiama Ikanya refused to be accredited.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, told journalists that the governor refused to be accredited because, “he could not subject himself to accreditation when the required election material meant for his unit could not be accounted for”.
In most of the polling units visited by our correspondents in Port Harcourt, Etche, Obio/Akpor, Eleme, Elelewon, Ndoni, Khana, Oyigbo, Ahoada, among others report sheets were not provided by INEC officials.
In Ozuoba and Kpite in Ikwerre and Tai Local Government Areas of the state, respectively, a soldier and two civilians were shot dead by suspected political thugs.
One of the civilian, Sampson Wona was said to have been shot dead while waiting to be accredited at a polling unit in Ozuoba, while the second civilian indentified as a member of the APC was murdered in Kpite in Tai LGA.
Brigade Commander, 2 Brigade, Port Harcourt, Koko Essien, confirmed the incident, when he spoke with Governor Amaechi at Ubima.
Shortly after the incident, the APC in the state alleged that scores of its members were killed, 100 arrested and many disenfranchised.
The party in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs to the APC State chairman, Chukwuemeka Eze, said the killings were carried out by hoodlums suspected to be acting for the Peoples Democratic Party.
The party attached photographs of the  slain persons to the statement to prove its claims.
The statement reads, ‘Today (Saturday) presidential and National Assembly elections have turned out to be big nightmare for the APC in Rivers State, with the members being killed , attacked and disenfranchise in various parts of the state.
“Armed militias working for the PDP have intensified their killings of APC members. Scores have already been killed and several others marked for elimination.
‘This morning (Saturday) in Kpite town, Tai Ward 2 and other areas of the state, five people were shot dead by PDP’s armed militia, and that was before accreditation commenced.
‘It is sad that the PDP and its collaborators are targeting APC strongholds and chieftains for attacks and killings. To intimidate our people and contrary to the court ruling forbidding the use of army in this election, there has been  a massive deployment of soldiers in the state with clear instruction to shoot at sight any APC agent that refuses to comply with the evil plot of the PDP to write the results of the election in some designated areas of the state in favour of the PDP.”
The statement claimed that an APC leader and former Commissioner in the state, Chidiebere Okwuwolu, was arrested and being detained at Olu Obasanjo Police Station in Port Harcourt, while 99 other APC members and leaders were being held in various police stations in the state.
But the state publicity Secretary of the PDP, Samuel Nwanosike debunked the APC allegations, saying his party was not interested in attacking or killing anybody to win elections.
Describing APC’s claims as mere propaganda to get the sympathy of the people, Nwanosike said while the PDP was working hard to win the  elections, the APC was busy making frivolous allegations.
All efforts to get the reaction of the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state Gesila Khan was unsuccessful as her phone was switched off.
However, Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections in Rivers State were marred largely by violence, irregularities, malpractices and refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to display the results sheets in most of the polling units across the state.
Elections in most communities in Khana Local Government Area were last Saturday stalled following late arrival of electoral materials and alleged hijack of result sheets by some thugs.
According to the caretaker committee chairman in Khana LGA, Hon Derek Mene, thugs suspected to be working for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stormed various polling units, shooting sporadically and snatching electoral materials.
At Lumbara community, the chairman said that gun totting youths scared everybody and vanished with result sheets making it impossible for people to cast their votes.
The chairman said he was personally denied accreditation and could not vote, pointing out that it was c same case in all Khana communities.
Mene, who addressed newsmen in Bori, during the election said there was no election in Khana as voters were harassed and intimidated by thugs and security personnel.
An APC stalwart, Barr Christain Mark also lamented the manhandling of APC members and agents by thugs and blamed the situation on the lack of preparation by INEC, which he accused of conniving with the PDP.
Violence were reported in Lorne Community ward 19, and some other communities in the area.
Meanwhile, there was massive turn out in Beeri community, the home town of the PDP House of Representative candidate for Kana/Gokhana constituency, Hon Dum Deekor. Speaking with newsmen after casting his vote, Hon Deekor thanked the people for the massive turn out and expressed confidence on the electoral process.
But eligible voters suspected to be supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were prevented by police and political thugs from voting any other than Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in almost every part of Andoni Local Government Area in Rivers State.
The Tide learnt that voters including APC state party chairman, Chief Davis Ibiamu Ikanya were prevented from proceeding to their polling units at Ikuru town, the home town of the state Deputy Governor and PDP’s Deputy National Chairman, Engr Tele Ikuru and Prince Uche Secondus, respectively.
Also at Ngo, the headquarters‘ of Andoni Local Government Area, the caretaker Committee Chairman, Hon Esuku Eme Esuku was barred from entering into the  community by soldiers believed to be working for PDP in the area.
The chairman  was also prevented from exercising his franchise.
Members of the APC alleged that police shot sporadically into the air to scare voters especially in units where APC was leading in Asarama and Unyeada.
Voters also alleged that thugs believed to be working for the PDP went round all the units in Asarama ward 9- Unyeada wards 6, 7 and 8 to intimidate and dismiss voters with light weapons. Our correspondents reported that some voters were beaten by the thugs, some were seriously injured, while election materials were hijacked and taken away to the house of a PDP chieftain where INEC officials and PDP supporters connived to rig the elections.
In Asarama, results sheets were not provided while card reader machine were intentionally abandoned despite the effectiveness of the machine for accreditation in the area.
The Tide also gathered that elections in Andoni were marred by violence as APC supporters were not allowed entry into polling units to exercise their franchise.
At Unit 8 ward 18 (Mba ward) in Etche Local Government Area, the absence of results sheets stirred confussion.
The presiding officer at the area confessed that the card reader slowed down the process. Some members had questioned the presiding officer over the non-availability of the result sheets and were not satisfied with the answer given.
Mr Nnadozie Uwuzi said, “ when we requested for the result sheet, the officials were not ready to provide it and instead, PDP members were saying if we don’t want to vote without the result sheet, we can go”.
“The next thing we saw was that they took away the box and other materials and whatever happens thereafter, we didn’t know. We did not vote in unit 8″.
But Nwogu Eke, a PDP member told The Tide that everything went accordingly and everybody was allowed to vote. It was a successful election.
At Igwuruta in Ikwerre Local Government Area, the story was also the same. After the accreditation which was delayed by the card reader, some persons boycotted the election because of the absence of result sheets.
APC member who gave his name as Samuel Amaechi, alleged that the PDP connived with the security and the INEC officials to rig the election.
‘When we noticed this, we boycotted the election, so the election did not hold’, Amaechi said.
At Omarchu Unit 6 ward 3 also in Ikwerre Local Government Area, same confusion trailed the exercise as APC said election could not hold.
But Nwakama Peter who said he is of PDP said, “the election here was peaceful, transparent, free and fair”.
The elections were also marred by various irregularities in Etche Local Government area of the state, which led to the boycott of the elections in the area.
The elections were boycotted across the 19 wards of the LGA due to the inability of INEC officials to provide the original result sheets across the polling units in the area. Although, before the election was halted there were incidents of gun shots at Ulakwo, the home town of Prince Emma Anyanwu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was learnt  that unknown gunmen stormed the house of a PDP chieftain where it was alleged that election materials meant for the ward were kept.
At Afara wards 1, trouble started when voters observed that the original results sheets were not made available. At Ward 2,3,4,5,6,7,8, the story was not different as the inability of the INEC officials to produce the original result sheets in all the units in those wards prompted voters to boycott the election.
In Obibi/Akwukabi wards 9, 10,12,13,14, 15,16,17,18 and 19 accreditation and voting had commenced in some of the units before questions about non-availability of the results sheets were raised.
Piqued by the development, voters demanded for the display of the result sheets in all the affected polling units in the area before the elections could continue.
Our correspondent who monitored the elections in some local government areas report that there was absence of security personnel in most polling units across the state.

Boye Salau/ Enoch Epelle/ Ike Wigodo/ Taneh Beemene/ Chris Oluoh and  Akujobi Amadi