Council Boss Cries Out As Security Operatives Teargas Party Agents

What would have been a clash between the Chairman of Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, Hon. Phillip Okparaji and former Nigerian Ambassador to the Netherlands, Orji Ngofa was averted on Saturday during the last Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the area.
The two political actors had arrived the Ngofa Hall in Ward 10, Unit 12 in Aleto, Eleme in company of their aides and engaged in a heated argument over reports of claims of disturbances at the ward.
But no sooner had the argument started than security operatives intervened and directed officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to move to the commission’s office in Ogale community.
While Ngofa supported the move to move the materials to INEC office, Okparaji expressed unhappiness that about 300 persons in that ward would be disenfranchised as a result of the development, saying voting was going on peacefully before Ngofa came there.
Later at the INEC collation centre in Eleme, INEC officials and party agents were teargassed and chased out of the commission’s office in the area were collation of results were going on.
Some INEC officials told our reporter who monitored the polls in the area that the place was rowdy which prompted security operatives to disperse the large crowd.
But speaking with The Tide, Okparaji cried foul and accused the Army of preventing agents of the PDP, including himself from gaining access to the collation center.
According to him, “The Army barred our legitimate agents from going into the INEC collation center. You cannot chase the agents of a political party from where they are counting the votes.
“They (the agents) need to be there so that they can see and record what was going on for their respective parties.

Dennis Naku