Honourable Solomon Bob, a member of the House of Representatives, has alleged that Governor Siminalayi Fubara claimed to be the Chairman of the Rivers State Electoral Commission. He questioned the legitimacy of the just conducted Local government election while highlighting the unusual circumstances surrounding it.
He further alleged that the RSIEC rushed to announce the result in the government house, rather than their office. He identified the importance of following the due process by law, stating that a notice must be sent 90 days earlier to invite participation in the election. He criticized the lack of campaign and notices to other parties, describing the situation as an embarrassment.
He said in an interview with Channels TV from 19:10, ‘You have to send a notice 90 days earlier to say everybody should come and participate in the election. If you don’t do that, then you haven’t really prepared for the election, so what’s the point of the election? You don’t wake up after ambushing people and say you want to have an election. There’s no campaign, and there are no notices to other parties. You wake up one day, distribute forms to a few of your colleagues, and then you have an election.
Then, the RSIEC rushes to somewhere in the government house and announces the result. It was an embarrassment. It doesn’t matter who would have won; the point is to follow the due process by law. It doesn’t matter if he had won with whatever party he chose to run with. I saw Governor Siminalayi Fubara on TV saying he is the Chairman of the Commission. He funds it, and then you saw him invade the commission area with his men before he moved them to the government house. Where was the result of this election announced? Was it at the RSIEC office? It wasn’t. So, let’s be factual when dealing with Rivers state matters.”