Sophia Michaels
Social Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate, Magnus Ngei Abe, has disclosed that he supported the relocation of the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal from Port Harcourt to Abuja, because of the volatile atmosphere in the state. This is in line with Abe’s claim 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.
Abe, who spoke on a live television programme monitored in Port Harcourt, said it would have been difficult for opposition political parties and their candidates to appear before the tribunal if it had sat in the State Capital. He 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 present their petitions before the tribunal was physically and violently resisted.”
