A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has called on the judiciary to nullify last Saturday’s local government election in Rivers State, describing the exercise as a “vote allocation” rather than an election.

Eze, a close ally of former Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, said in a statement that residents of the state stayed away from the polls because they had no confidence in its credibility.

He expressed confidence that the courts would “set aside the charade held on August 30” and restore “orderliness to Rivers polity,” adding that the process contravened democratic standards and amounted to “political banditry.”

Eze accused the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) of conducting the poll with officials “unlawfully appointed” by Sole Administrator Ibok-Ette Ibas, whose appointment, he said, was unconstitutional.

He further alleged that all 23 chairmanship candidates in the election were loyal to Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike and claimed that result sheets were “hijacked” and kept in a Port Harcourt hotel, where figures were distributed to give the process “a tincture of an election.”

“It is pathetic to learn that in Emohua, Ikwerre, Obio-Akpor, Port Harcourt City, and other local government areas where voters shunned the charade, results churned out by the electoral body indicate that chairmanship contestants scored votes in tens and hundreds of thousands,” Eze said.

He also cited video footage allegedly showing RSIEC ad-hoc staff thumbprinting ballot papers in Emohua LGA, where no voters reportedly turned up, yet a chairmanship candidate was declared winner with over 100,000 votes.