Verbatim Report On Senator Magnus Abe Speeches That Answered All The Frequently Asked Questions About The Tai Election Results Released By INEC And Won By Apc, During An Interview With Journalists In Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Basically,there is so much noise about the release of Tai election results by INEC. First of all,let me thank Almighty God for his truthfulness because ultimately the truth prevailed. Let me also thank INEC national for finally finding the courage to do the right thing in the face of grave injustice.

So much has been said and so much noise has been made. But the one question that nobody has bothered to ask is why were the Tai results withheld in the first place? You had an election that was conducted by INEC,collated by the colla

tion officer,returned by the returning officer in the presence of all the relevant authorities and agencies like the police,the SSS and all those involved in the election. You had e-collation officers that were on ground in Tai. You had everything that is suppose to be part of an election in Tai.

Now, why were the results not accepted? The Tai results were rejected simply as part of the-stop- Senator- Magnus- Abe- by- all- means campaign mounted by Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP. What was the reason or the excuse given for the rejection of the Tai results? It was because the state commissioner for INEC said that he had cancelled Tai.

Yesterday, we heard from the federal commissioner that the state commissioner had no power to cancel results. Now,the same INEC that refused to accept the Tai results came back to Rivers State and collated more than five results in favour of the PDP. They were collated and returned by INEC against the rules of INEC itself. Those results were also declared even though they did not meet the requirement of INEC. For example,you had results that were declared in situations and circumstances that were against the guidelines of the very election that we are talking about. You have results that were declared where the number of people that had not voted were more than the margin of Win between the two parties and all these results were declared in favour of the PDP.

You had a situation where results were declared and then backdated so that it makes it impossible for the APC candidates that were robbed to even go to court. All these injustices were perpetrated against the APC in broad day light and nobody said anything. When we complained,we were asked to go to court. In the same manner,one would have assumed that the Tai results,which had been properly collated and declared would have also been announced and any other party who was aggrieved,would have been asked to go to court. But what was good for the goose was not good for the gander. Now,after almost how many months,where clear injustice was being perpetrated against people who are law abiding in this state,INEC finally succumbed to the requirement of justice and released a result that had already been declared.

People need to understand that INEC did not declare any result. This result was declared by the returning officer,collated by the relevant people. So, while we thank INEC for finally allowing justice to be done,we need to make it clear to Nigerians that what happened in Tai was a grave injustice against the All Progressives Congress.

As we speak now, PDP is mobilizing people and giving boys money to try to go and create problems in the state. So,quote and unquote,it will look as if something was done in favour of APC,by declaring a result that had already been declared by a returning officer.

A lot of injustice has been perpetrated against the APC in Rivers State and the idea seem to be that as long as APC is complaining, because we are in the ruling party,then it means that INEC is doing the right thing. People need to understand that that is not what is happening here.

All we are asking for is a level playing field. Whatever you are doing for party A, do the same for party B. That is all we are asking for. So, I want to thank God Almighty and I want to thank INEC national for having the courage to do what should have been done so many months ago in this case. What we expect at this point is that a date would be fixed for the conclusion of this election and that Rivers people across every party divide will be given an opportunity to cast their votes and the votes will be counted.

We have already called the attention of Nigerians to the fact that last time what made it impossible for us to hold election in the state was violence, and that violence was caused by the PDP forming what they called Arrest Resistance Committee,which basically were armed thugs positioned across every ward and polling unit in the state- that hijacked materials and created mayhem across the state. We talked about that and now they have formed a new one called the polling Unit Security Committee.

This is nothing but the same old wine in a new wine bottle. What we need at this point in this state is that the law enforcement agencies should be up to their game. Whether it is Arrest Resistance Committee or Polling Unit Security Committee, let the laws of this federal republic of Nigeria be enforced and let Nigerians particularly those of us who are in Rivers State be allowed to cast our votes and our votes counted.

I want to repeat that the parties in this election in Rivers state are not being treated equally. When two equals are treated unequally, that is injustice. I have given you clear examples of seats that were not won by the PDP,which INEC dashed the PDP against the rules of this election and those people were hurriedly issued certificates of return and hurriedly sworn in. Not only did they not win the election validly, because all those who should have voted were not given opportunity to vote, the results were not collated by the collation officer and returned by the returning officer, they were collated and returned by the INEC office. We did not cause mayhem. We did not ask our supporters to go and kill anybody. We went to court and even in going to court,we were frustrated by the action of INEC, where a result was declared on a certain day which is the day we now had information that Mr.B of the PDP had won the election. But the certificate of return,which is the instrument that gives legal validity to the date of the election was backdated to the 19th. Meanwhile, we started counting our days from the date of declaration.

PDP produced a certificate dated the 19th. As at the 19th,we were not aware that that man had won election and so,we could not have filed a case and our case was thrown out. That is a clear case of INEC dashing seats in an election to PDP and this happened in Nigeria in this 2016.We have not caused mayhem and got boys to go and shoot gun or protest. We went to court and even in the court,we were frustrated by the action of INEC. I'm sure that every sensible Nigerian will agree that this is not fair.

The Tai result was collated by the officer duly appointed by INEC. It was conducted by the electoral officer for Tai. It was returned by the returning officer duly appointed by INEC. What was the reason for refusing the result in the first place? It was because the REC said that he had announced that Tai was cancelled. From the federal commissioner yesterday,she declared that he has no such power to cancel an election without consulting with the returning officer and those in the field. They are the ones who should have made that announcement. He went ahead conducted the election, finished it,returned it.

The proper thing to be done, the election having been returned,was that INEC would have enter the results and advised whoever was aggrieved to go to court. That was what should have happened since March 19th when that election was returned but it didn't happen until yesterday. So, Nigerians need to be clear that INEC did not do the APC any favour. What was done instead is that an obvious injustice that was done to us was corrected.

Governor Wike and the PDP had sworn to stop me by all means and we have 35,000 votes there. He was simply doing it to block the 35,000 votes from counting in our favour and that clearly was an injustice,which has now been corrected. So,people need to understand that fact. I have challenge anybody to mention one favour that INEC has done for the APC in Rivers State. But I can mention more than 8 clear favours including dashing seats for free to the PDP that has happened in Rivers state and nobody is saying anything about it.

So,all we are asking for is that there should be a level playing field and people should be fairly treated. All the attacks on the federal commissioner yesterday was simply because she made the point that they should take decision based on the law. And they took the decision,the one that favoured PDP,they didn't complain about it. They took a decision in favour of PDP in Degema,they didn't complain about that. We are complaining about that because clearly everybody knows that what happened in Degema was wrong. They took a decision in Ikwerre,we are complaining about that.

They didn't say anything about that. But all that PDP is focused on is Tai.Why? Because of Senator Abe. And I want to make the point that even if the election is conducted 100 times and the people of Rivers South East Senatorial District are allowed to vote and their votes are counted, I'll win, I'll win. But Tai results need to be entered because it is unfair to treat one party differently and treat the other party differently. That is just the point we are making here. This was simply a case of an injustice being corrected.

Well, the only significance is that I now have votes ahead of my opponent,which the same thing was done in Rivers West and Rivers East,where votes were entered for the PDP in favour of their candidates but the one for Rivers South East was blocked by forces that are beyond our comprehension because in Rivers West and Rivers East,PDP was ahead. Those ones were entered without trouble. But the one of Rivers South East that puts us ahead was blocked as part of the campaign to stop Senator Abe by all means. That is all that happened.

So,this whole drama was created out of injustice;out of malice by forces who think that they can manipulate anything in this country and then go around the television stations,because they have money,to start shouting what they think is what should be heard. It was just an injustice that was done because APC won there. That is all that happened,nothing else.

In terms of quality, the Tai election result has more validity and more credibility than any of the other result based on which people have been returned. The e-collation was there. The officers are alive. The electoral officer who conducted the election is alive. The returning officer who returned the House of Assembly candidate is alive. The collation officer who collated the result is alive.

The police,the SSS,everybody who took part in that election are all alive and their reports are all there. But it was blocked simply because the Resident Electoral Commissioner said he had cancelled Tai and therefore,he would not accept it. And he has no such power under the rules of INEC itself.

So, the proper thing to do is that INEC should have advised whoever was not satisfied to wait when the results are declared ,you go to the tribunal to prove your case.That was not what happened in the case of Tai. But that happened in other cases that should not have been declared at all. So,people need to understand this fact that INEC has not done any favour to Rivers APC. INEC has done over 10 written favours to PDP in Rivers State.

Go and cross check the facts,you will see several results that were returned,where the margin of win was less than the number of people who have not voted. In the INEC manual, it is clear that in such a situation,that result should not have been returned and the people who have not voted should be given an opportunity to vote before it could be returned.

Those results were not returned by the returning officer appointed by INEC and yet they were returned. But, yesterday at the the meeting,you heard the federal commissioner clearly say that INEC has no power to return an election. That a returning officer must be appointed. But that is not what happened in the case of the result that were declared for the PDP.

All the parties in this election should be treated equally. Whatever is good for the goose should be good for the gander. If that is done,I don't think anybody has any cause to complain and everybody should respect the law. When we say the people who are aggrieved should not start inciting youths to take the laws into their hands,we meant it.

If you are talking of people who rigged elections, everybody knows that the PDP did not win the governorship election in Rivers State. It is a known fact. The international observers;local observers and people who were here when that election took place in 2015,know that there was no election. The card reader report of INEC is there. All those facts were there yet PDP was declared. We didn't take the laws into our hands.

We didn't set the state on fire. I have given you clear examples of people in the March 19th election,who did not win the election and the INEC guidelines which they gave to us for that election makes it clear that they did not win and INEC said they made a mistake and yet they were returned. We have not gone to war. let anybody mention one mistake that has been made in favour of the APC in this election- not one. But more than 10 mistakes have been made in favour of the PDP.

You saw the case of Ogu/Bolo LGA, where they said,first they had declared that the number of people who had not voted were 15,000 and then, next thing it was reduced to 8,000 and they said that was a mistake. That was a mistake in favour of PDP. How come no mistake is ever made in favour of APC? So,entering the Tai results in favour of the All Progressives Congress is nothing but doing justice. That is the right thing to do. That is what should have been right at the beginning,the day the result was returned.

It wasn't done and finally now, INEC has done the right thing. So,all we can do,which I want to say here is to thank INEC for the courage to do the right thing in the case of Tai. But to say that please,please,please,we beg in the name of God,no more mistakes should be made in favour of the PDP and no more partial action should be taken that gives one party advantage over the other one. And then the party that is getting the advantage is the same party that is going to the radio to be screaming against those they are cheating. I mean that is just so, so,so ridiculous. So,we are asking for a level playing field,fairness and justice.

What makes our case more painful is that people seem to assume that because we belong to the party in power at the federal level,we are getting any sort of advantage from INEC and so when PDP make noise,people don't even bother to check what the facts are. The facts are that we are being cheated openly and glaringly and nobody is saying anything about it.

So, we thank INEC for having the mind to come and do justice. But INEC has done us absolutely no favour. They have been doing favours for the PDP. Even the postponement of this election was at the instance of Governor Wike. He wrote to INEC to postpone this election.

If it was APC that had written to postpone the election,there would have been mayhem all over but he wrote to postpone the election and the election has been postponed without consulting with us and we have not said anything. We have not abuse INEC or say it is because of any relationship between Wike and INEC. We have held our peace and respected the power of INEC as an institution to take decisions that some times may not be pleasing to us but which is within their powers to do so. So, I think that what we need is some reciprocity in this process;some genuine respect and fairness in what is going on.

People need to understand that that this is an election that is in progress. You can't go and get an injunction to stop an election that is in progress. That is an issue between them and the legal officers of INEC.#