Victor EzejaState Collation Officer for the Presidential Election (SCOPE) in Rivers State, Prof Charles Adias has suspended collation of the February 25th Presidential election results until further notice over an alleged threat to his life.
Prof Adias, who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Otueke made this known on Tuesday afternoon at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) State collation centre in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Adias said he is being blamed for all the challenges encountered during Saturday’s poll in the state which include malfunctioning of the BVAS, and inability to upload results at polling units, among other constraints.
Commissioner of Police of the Presidential Election in Rivers, CP Aderemi Adeoye, encouraged the SCOPE to go ahead and finish up the assignment, assuring him of adequate security by the Nigerian police.
He urged Adias to submit a written complaint about the threat to his life to the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State so that investigations can be launched immediately, adding that those behind it would be brought to brook.
While assuring the Adias of adequate security, Adeoye boasted that however attempts to attack Adias will pay with his or her life.
Some political party agents also encourage the SCOPE to continue and finish up the assignment.
READ ALSO: Wike, Wife Fail BIVAS Test, As Delays Threaten Voting In Rivers
Adias however, insisted that he won’t proceed until the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state addressed some of the issues those threatening him raised including the faulty Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
He said” “collations will be adjourned until INEC represented by the REC addresses the issues. In the assaults I have received in the past three days, they have failed to recognize the difference between the SCOPE and the REC of Rivers State. When there are crises in polling units, the attack is on my phone and myself, that I am responsible. When BVAS fails to function, the attack is equally on my phone that I am responsible. In fact, I am responsible for the code errors and the rest of that or the malfunctioning of BIVAS.
So, I believe that if INEC is able to address this misinformation, we can reconsider and reconvene, but for now, collation is hereby adjourned,” Adias said.
So far, results from 21 local government areas have been collated. Results are expected from two local government areas – Obio-Akpor and Degema.
The two remaining LGAs are those of Governor Nyesom Wike and his Deputy, Ipalibo Banigo. While Wike hails from Obio-Akpor, his Deputy is from Degema LGA.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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