There’s a plot to prevent APC from challenging Rivers guber poll result -Tonye Cole

Tonye Cole, governorship candidate of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in Rivers, says his party is being frustrated from challenging
the outcome of the state governorship election.

Speaking on Monday in an interview with Channels Television,
Cole said the violence unleashed on Rivers APC members is a ploy to waste the
party’s time regarding the election petition.

On March 21, the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) declared Siminialayi Fubara, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.

Fubara polled 302,614 votes to defeat Cole who scored 95,274
votes. However, the APC and its governorship candidate rejected the result of
the election.

Earlier on Monday, Cole said he was slapped and injured in
the fracas that broke out at the INEC office in Port Harcourt, Rivers state
capital.

An altercation ensued when Cole and his supporters arrived
at the INEC office to inspect materials used for the election.

Some PDP members who were already at the INEC office
reportedly insisted that both parties must inspect the materials at the same
time – a situation that resulted in violence.

 ‘WE’VE NOT RECEIVED EXPECTED COOPERATION FROM
INEC’

Speaking on what transpired, the APC candidate said his
party has not received the expected cooperation from INEC as regards the
election materials.

“It seems as if there is a calculated plot to prevent us
from presenting a reasonable petition,” he said.

“It is either we are being prevented from gaining access to
CTC documents that we need to build our case or we are being prevented directly
so that we can run out of time.

 “Both of them are
tied together. First, our lawyers were arrested. All the evidence we are
building was taken. We spent Saturday and Sunday trying to retrieve all of
these.

“We retrieved them on Sunday. On Monday morning, we spent
time trying to get documents. We have not gotten the documents, instead we were
shot at, harassed, stoned and wounded.

“Another day (Monday) has gone. At what point are we going
to have time to prepare for the petition that we must submit?

“We haven’t received the cooperation that we expected from
INEC at all. I have no idea why INEC has been silenced. Why did the REC refuse
to take my call?”