The Rivers State Collation Officer for the presidential election, Prof Teddy Adias, has suspended collation of results indefinitely.
Prof Adias made the annoucement on Tuesday, saying the suspension followed growing threats to his life and family over his role in the process.
He vowed never to go on with the collation until the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) addresses the concerns he has raised.
“Until INEC addresses the concerns I have raised, the collation stands adjourned. There is a misconception about my role in the process. They are posting in social media, calling and texting that I’m the man who is rigging Rivers State elections,” he stated.
The State Collation Officer alleged that the death threats and calls he continues to receive were coming from persons claiming to be members of the Labour Party (LP) whose presidential candidate, Peter Obi, was leading the results in Rivers with just two LGAs to conclude collation.
Obi, who has won only five of the 21 LGAs so far collated, is polling a total of 170,052 ahead of Bola Tinubu of All Progressives Congress (APC), who has won 13 LGAs and polled 148,977 votes.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar, who is winning in three LGAs controlled by his men, is placed third on the presidential table for Rivers with 83,966 votes.
Obi’s overwhelming votes with win in just five LGAs so far came from Port Harcourt City LGA (PHALGA), Rivers LGA second highest voters population where the LP candidate polled 62,451 votes against APC’s 5,562 votes.
Results for Degema and highest polling Obio/Akpor LGAs are the only ones left to determine who wins Rivers in the 2023 presidential elections.
Meanwhile, Civil Society groups have called for immediate redeployment of INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Rivers State, accusing him of compromising the process.
Rivers East APC National Assembly candidates have also called for cancellation of the results.
Credit: Daily Sun