The 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe says moving the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal from Port Harcourt to Abuja is a good development.
According to him, there’s no way the tribunal would have been able to achieve anything meaningful if it remains in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The former lawmaker who supported the move of the tribunal to Abuja said it is the right step in the interest of the people.
He alleged that as human beings, the members of the tribunal would also fear for their lives in Port Harcourt, and opposition parties and their candidates/members/supporters would find it difficult to appear before the tribunal due to fear of intimidation.
Abe who was reported to have made his view known during a television programme which was monitored by his spokesman, Parry Psaro-Benson, and made available in a statement to newsmen on Sunday alleged that members of the Rivers State Council of Traditional Rulers were forced to adopt the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Siminalaye Fubara, as the candidate of the state in the last election.
He added that anyone from the opposition camp who made attempts to access the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Rivers State was either beaten up or prevented by the Police.
Abe said, “I think that anybody who has been watching developments in Rivers State will see that there was really no way the tribunal could sit in Port Harcourt.
“Even the opportunity for members of the opposition parties to access INEC office in Port Harcourt and be able to get materials or information from INEC to enable them to present their petitions before the tribunal was physically and violently resisted.
“People were beaten up; nobody could go near the INEC office. The place was kept under siege and the police allowed this to go on for days. Nothing was done to bring it under control.”
Abuja Is A Better Venue
For justice to be served, Abe said the Abuja neutral venue is better.
He said, “So, clearly, the option of the tribunal actually sitting in Port Harcourt to do any meaningful work; anybody who has been watching events in the state knows that it was not even an option.
“There is no way anybody could have been able to go before the tribunal in Port Harcourt and be able to make a case.
“Even the tribunal is also made up of human beings, who also fear for their lives. The volatile political atmosphere in the State affected everybody and affected everything.
“I think that at the end of the day, the tribunal had no option than to relocate to Abuja, where we believe that everybody will get a better opportunity to be able to present their cases.”
Rivers Govt Clamped Down On Opposition
Continuing, the SDP candidate said the Rivers State Government issued Executive Orders 21 and 22 to prohibit opposition political parties and their candidates from carrying out campaigns across the state.
According to him, “If you recall, I have said from the beginning even before the elections took place that everybody in Nigeria who have been watching events in Rivers State knew that one way or the other, the elections in Rivers State were going to be problematic.
“The elections in Rivers State, people were going to make an effort to manipulate the elections in one way or the other.
“This started even before the actual day of voting. For example, it was only in Rivers state that we had Order 21 and Order 22 issued by the State Government, which virtually prohibited other political parties from carrying out any campaigns.”
