PDP Planning To Disrupt Rivers Council Polls—APC

Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of planning to use violent means to scuttle the local government elections in the state scheduled for Saturday, May 23, 2015.

The party raised the alarm via a statement issued on Thursday in Port Harcourt by its Chairman, Davies Ibiamu Ikanya.

“We have it on good authority that, having failed in its efforts to stop the polls, including the ill-advised boycott of this democratic exercise which has been eagerly embraced by 22 other political parties in the state, the leadership of the state PDP has concluded plans to unleash mayhem on the state prior to and on Saturday, May 23, with a view to violently disrupting the council polls.

“The idea behind the sinister plot is to discredit the polls and lay the blame on APC, portraying the party as the one behind the insecurity in the state.

“It is also aimed to discredit Governor Rotimi Amaechi for going ahead with the constitutionally-approved local government elections which the state PDP is desperate to sabotage after chickening out to avoid being disgraced by voters,” Ikanya said in the statement.

He further claimed that political thugs have arriving Rivers State to carry out the plan.

“As part of this satanic plot, an assassination attempt was carried out on May 19 against Victor Briggs, an aide to Governor Amaechi, with his police escort killed in the process.

“It is very unfortunate that Rivers PDP should be orchestrating more violence in the state after masterminding the death of over 100 APC supporters in the run-up to, and during the ill-fated elections of March 28 and April 11,” Ikanya said.

“We wish to once again call on the Police and other security agencies to be proactive this time and prevent the state PDP leadership from carrying out this unprovoked attack against APC members. “They should act promptly to forestall another orgy of violence by those who have been threatening to cause mayhem in the Niger Delta region due to the ouster of President Goodluck Jonathan from office.

“This premeditated violence if not nipped in the bud could further lead to a crisis that may negatively affect the transition programme in the state,” the party boss in the state disclosed in the statement.

He however vowed that no amount of intimidation and evil machinations of PDP will stop the Saturday polls, saying that the PDP lacks the constitutional right to prevent an exercise designed to promote democracy at the grassroots level and eagerly accepted by the majority of people of the state.