Justice Has Been Served To The People Of Rivers State

The Patriots Alliance sincerely commend the Nigerian Judiciary for her painstaking efforts and courage at reversing the widely acclaimed fraudulent outcomes of the shambolic and violence ridden April 11 & 12, 2015, Rivers State Gubernatorial and House of Assembly Elections.

The first in this case is the nullification of Barr. Nyesom Wike's election which came as a relieve to those who have insisted that there were no elections in Rivers State ab initio.

The Rivers State Elections Petitions Tribunal made history again by annulling the elections of 19 out of the 32 constituencies in Rivers State, including that of Hon. Ikunyi Ibani, Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly. The Panel Judges unanimously maintained that the said elections were marred by widespread violence and irregularities.

The Tribunal subsequently ordered INEC to conduct fresh elections in the affected constituencies within 90 days. It is worth noting that these constituencies in question cut across 16 out of 23 Local Government Areas in the state: we believe that it further authenticates the cancellation of the governorship election.

As Patriots, we advice whoever is not satisfied with these Judicial fireworks to keep calm and approach the appellate court for redress. We also urge those who were favoured by the hammer of the law, to be magnanimous in victory and give peace a chance. At the end, we are all brothers and sisters, irrespective of our socio-political divides.

We would also like to immensely thank the Rivers State Commissioner of Police and his men, for their diligence in ensuring that the present political tension in the air does not destabilise the already precarious security situation in the state.

Finally, we call on INEC to activate a process that will lead to free and fair elections in the next three months, in order to ensure that Rivers people are not robbed again, and Justice is sustained.

Solomon Okocha
For: The Patriots Alliance
[email protected]