Tonye Cole, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 governorship election, has called for fresh conduct of elections in Rivers State.

He said in a statement on Friday: “This is a pivotal period for Rivers State and indeed the entire political institutions in Nigeria. Our state has always been at the epicentre of political affairs, most often hugging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. We are the only state that the courts silenced almost all political opposition to an incumbent, nearly making way for a walkover election.

“We are the only state that is yet to conclude an election three weeks after voters went to the polls. We are the only state that armed militants and the military faced off violently. We are the only state that continues to be a cause of deep concern to the international community. We are the only state that the electoral body is being brazenly accused of unparalleled bias. We are the only state that is openly labeled as electorally violent. We are sick and tired of these negative headlines.”

Continuing, Pastor Cole said: “In this atmosphere, it would be grossly irresponsible to proceed with concluding an electoral process that hardly anyone believes in. It is certainly the constitutional responsibility of INEC to conduct elections, collate and announce results in a credible and acceptable manner, open to the participation and scrutiny of the public at all times and within the eyeballs and participation of political parties and their agents throughout voting, collation and declaration. This process has been completely truncated and its sanctity defiled, the result of which I fear greatly can lead to anarchy and possible loss of additional lives.”