From Tony John, Port Harcourt
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Joe Korka-Waadah, has berated the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), of masterminding the fake report on social media that the party has withdrawn from the ongoing Election Petitions Tribunal.
A popular online blog had reported on Monday, that the alleged withdrawal meant that Tonye Cole, the APC governorship candidate remained the only petitioner against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its candidate and winner of the election, Fubara Siminalayi and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The source claimed that drama started at the tribunal when the APC filed an application for a change of counsel in their petition against Siminalayi and the PDP.
The report further claimed that at the beginning of the hearing, the APC counsel, Solomon Umoh, informed the tribunal that he would be taking over as counsel for the APC after a motion for a change of counsel before the court.
Umoh also informed the court that his clients would want their names to be struck out as applicants from the petition.
According to that online medium, Justice Cletus Emifoniye, in a three-man panel of judgement, granted the application for change of counsel and granted the prayer of the lawyer by striking out the name of the APC as a petition.
But, in a swift reaction, Korka-Waadah, a Canadian citizen and political management consultant, accused the ruling party in Rivers State of allegedly using the fake report to cause a distraction from regaining a ‘stolen’ mandate.
He said: “What more will the PDP in Rivers State not do in order to distract from the case of a stolen mandate before the tribunal? Why are they scared if they do have a strong case?”
The APC stalwart advised Rivers people to discountenance the report which was intended to cause confusion and deceive APC fateful in Rivers State.
He stated: “I want to advise our good people of Rivers State to ignore these deliberate antics, for it is as flimsy as it is intended to deceive.
“Rivers APC is in court, and Pastor Tonye Cole is willing and able and is standing tall in his quest to redeem the mandate the Rivers people gave in that election.
“Do not be deceived. We will not waiver, and we shall not be moved. At the end of the day, we shall claim back our stolen mandate.”
Similarly, the APC governorship candidate has urged Rivers people to ignore the unconfirmed report, stressing that the party would legally ensure it regains the stolen mandate by the ruling PDP.
Cole was in Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the March 18 governorship election that produced Siminalayi, as the governor-elect.
Meanwhile, PDP in Rivers has debunked the allegation, saying that it doesn’t meddle in the internal issues of other political parties.
State Publicity Secretary, Mr Tambari Sydney Gbara, in an interview, said: “Our attention has been drawn to an allegation that our party is involved in whatever that is going on with their tribunal case. We want to state very clearly that whatever that is going on in APC with their litigation cases is an internal issue, and should not be used to heat up the polity.”