Olusegun Olanrewaju

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Tonye Cole, and the chairman of the party, Emeka Beke, yesterday alleged that they were attacked and beaten up by suspected political thugs in Port Harcourt during a street protest that went violent.

This happened when hundreds of supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stormed the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Port Harcourt to inspect materials used for the conduct of the March 18 governorship elections.

Cole said had on Friday his party come to the office to pick the Certified True Copies (CTC) of documents used in the conduct and declaration of the just-concluded governorship and state house of assembly elections in the state to enable the APC file process at the tribunal.

It followed the protest lodged at the election petition tribunal challenging the results of the March 18 governorship election in the state which the electoral body announced was won by PDP candidate, Siminialayi Fubara.

According to INEC, Fubara won the governorship election with 302,614 votes, while Cole polled 95,274 votes.

Cole rejected the result and vowed to challenge it at the tribunal.

Yesterday, hundreds of supporters of the PDP stormed the INEC office demanding that the electoral umpire release CTC the documents of the election to them, not only to the APC and its candidate.

The PDP protesters allegedly blocked off all access points to the commission’s office, insisting that they won the election and should be given copies of the documents.

However, while the PDP supporters were still in their push, the governorship candidate of the APC, Cole, chairman of the party, Beke, and some other candidates of the party arrived.

The development, it was gathered, culminated in shooting, grounding all activities as armed youths took the area hostage with gunfire.

Although no casualty was recorded, some cars reportedly owned by the APC chiefs were damaged.

The protest paralysed vehicular activities from the Waterlines area through to the GRA area of Aba Road in the metropolis.

Following the protest, commuters were seen trekking long distances to get to their destinations, while commercial vehicles and private cars made a detour.

Speaking, the chairman of the Ikwerre local government area of the state, Dr Samhel Nwanosike, said the inspection must be done by all parties involved.

However, narrating his ordeal, the APC gubernatorial candidate accused the PDP of sponsoring thugs that attacked him during a clash between the two parties in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

Speaking with Channels Television in Port Harcourt, Cole said he was assaulted by thugs who pelted him with water, food, and stones until he got injured.

On the other hand, the PDP members in Rivers State gave reasons for the protest at the INEC headquarters.

The protesters demanded that INEC allow a joint inspection of election materials by political parties ahead of the election petition tribunal sitting that declared the winner of the election on Saturday, March 18.

The protest was led by the Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Edison Ehie, and the Chairman of the Ikwerre Local Government Area, Samuel Nwanosike.

Speaking with journalists, Nwanosike urged the electoral commission to make the CTCs of results available and demanded a joint inspection of materials.

He said, “It must be a joint inspection because a man who is coming to equity must come with clean hands. Inspection must be done jointly. So that we watch each other. We have won an election, and the world has seen it. We will defend it with our blood.”