Rivers re-run: INEC suspends election in Akuku-Toru; parties accuse Commission of bias; protests, shootings in councils; REC, DIG score election high, peaceful

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Saturday, suspended election in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Supervising Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Austin Okojie, announced the suspension of re-run legislative election in the area.
Elections were scheduled to hold in five units of Ward 12.
Okojie told newsmen at Abonnema, headquarters of Akuku-Toru Local Government on Saturday that the decision to suspend the election was taken after a meeting with representatives of parties.
He said the election would be held on Sunday.
He said INEC did not continue with the exercise because ad-hoc staff and corps members complained of lateness.
Meanwhile, representatives of the APC and PDP have expressed mixed reactions to the suspension of the election.
Mr Tonye Alalibo, Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Local Government, said that the suspension would allow a rival party manipulate the process.
Alalibo said the PDP was ready for the elections but INEC decided to suspend the process.
Mr Isobo Jack, a leader of the APC in the area, said it was unfortunate that the elections couldn’t hold but hoped that it would be held as agreed.
Jack urged his party faithful to be patient and avoid anything that could cause crisis.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Aniedi Ikowak, hailed the peaceful conduct of the rerun legislative elections.
Aniedi made the remark while monitoring the election at  Rumuigbo, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
He said reported cases of rumours on skirmishes would be investigated.
Also speaking, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations (DIG), Habila Joshak, also scored the conduct of the election high.
He said contrary to some reports of violence, the exercise was generally peaceful.
Joshak also hailed the people of the state for conducting themselves orderly.
He urged the media to verify information before going to press.
At Rumuomasi, Obio/Akpor Local Government, the party agents also commended INEC on the conduct of the election, saying it was generally peaceful unlike how it used to be in recent times.
The agents, Mr Ikechi Okpobiri (PDP) and that of the APC who simply introduced herself as Miss Tina, said that the peace and the orderliness should be maintained.
But the Commissioner for Health, Dr Theophilus Odagme, who was at the INEC office in Bori, Khana Local Government  complained of irregularities in the area.
The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, described the conduct of the re-run legislative elections as an improvement compared to the suspended exercise in March.
Oyekanmi said that though there were few cases of violence during the election, there was no confirmed case of killing.
“Generally, the trail of violence is not as what we witnessed in March.
“In March, a person was killed and the commission was forced to close the election, but in this Saturday exercise, there is no strong indication for us to say that we are suspending the election again.
“We think that relatively, we should be able to conclude the process peacefully, the security agencies should be commended for securing most of the places used for the elections,.
“Voting in some places have been concluded and collation ongoing.
“We are assuring Nigerians that we are building on our achievements in Edo and Ondo in term of credibility of elections in the country,’’ he said.
Oyekanmi further said that there were measures put in place to ensure that collation of results remain peaceful and transparent.
“A lot of precautionary measures have been put in place to ensure that hijacking of election results witnessed in the suspended elections in March does not reoccur.’’
Voters in Ward 8, Unit 1, Rumuomasi, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area defied an afternoon downpour to perform their civil responsibility.
The rain, which started at 2.10pm, drenched some voters who came for the re-run legislative election.
The unit was situated at the state Primary School, Rumuomasi and has been one of the volatile areas during election.
The security agents, in the efforts to avert any unpalatable situation, only opened one of the gates into the school where they conducted No Voter Card, No Entry.
This made many youths to hang around streets outside the school fences where gun shots were heard occasionally as the rain was on.
Security agents’ organisation of the unit made the eligible voters to be coming in one after the other even while it was the raining.
One of the security men who did not want  his name mentioned, said that the way the voters were organised was the only way  to avert undesirable situation.
“You know this ward has a history of gun shooting and snatching of election sensitive materials; we can’t afford to allow such in this election.
“You see many youths outside the fence, most of them do not have voters card and still they came out en masse.
“What did they come out for when they know they don’t have the requirement to vote; just to cause chaos,” he said.
The Police also conducted ‘Stop and Search’ operation on vehicles plying various roads in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
The action is designed to ensure peaceful elections.
The Police had warned the people against carrying money on election day to guard against such money being used to influence voters.
Police personnel were seen stationed at road junctions.
Meanwhile, Mr Chimem Nnanta, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council commended the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, for ensuring adequate security arrangement for the election.
Nnanta expressed satisfaction that the election was progressing peacefully.
According to him, the poll has remained the most secure in recent times in the state.
Nnanta, however, noted that the turnout of electorate was low compared to previous polls.
Voting did not begin early in various wards and units in Gokanna and Eleme council Areas.
This situation was due to the delayed arrival of voting materials, as voting eventually started between 11.50am and noon in the areas.
Reports showed that voting in Gokana had been peaceful and orderly, as only registered individuals with voter cards were allowed access into voting centres by security agents.
The polling units in Ogale, Alesa and Aledo in Eleme council areas also witnessed late arrival of voting materials, which affected early commencement of balloting.
Voting had been stalled in ward 9, unit 3, of Ogu/Bolo, following the activities of suspected hoodlums, who allegedly carted away some polling materials.
Shootings were also heard in many locations.
Soldiers were later seen rushing to where the hoodlums were shooting.
Election officials posted to the area were also moved to the nearest police station for safety.
Some political party supporters in Ahoada-West council area protested against alleged bias by INEC in the conduct of the elections.
The supporters claimed that the election materials sent to polling units were fake and would not be allowed to be used for the exercise.
In some polling units, sacks were used to replace ballot boxes.
The party faithful chanted slogans such as “ we no gree’’, no result sheet, no election’’, “our votes must count.’’
The supporters said they had lost confidence on INEC’s ability to conduct a free, fair and credible election in the area.
The protest caused many voters to leave the polling units for fear of molestation.
Some voters, however, stood several metres away from the voting centres, awaiting any commencement of voting.
Meanwhile, INEC Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Nick Dazang, denied the allegations, saying INEC could not have deployed fake election materials for any election.
“How can INEC deploy fake election materials of which we are the custodian of our materials?
He said that “what happened in Ahoada-West  is that some result sheets were snatched and from available report, the result sheets have been replaced.
“INEC cannot deploy fake result sheets. It is like saying Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is producing fake currency. Is this possible?”
Late voting also affected areas such as Eleme, Ahoada-West, Etche, Bonny, Tai and Ikwerre Local Governments Areas.
Voters and party supporters were seen milling around polling units in Alesa and Ogale communities in Eleme council area awaiting the arrival of election materials.
Reports also showed that both materials and polling officers were yet to be seen at polling centres in Mbiama in Ahoada West council area as at the time of the report.
Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, an accredited Election Observer, commended the timely commencement of the elections in areas but heavy presence of security personnel in polling units in the Ogoni axis of the state.
“So far, voting has not commenced in the areas I have visited, but there is huge security presence,’’ he said.