Stakeholders raise concerns over military interference in Rivers elections

Stakeholders at a meeting with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, complained of the intervention of the military in the governorship and other elections in the state, which they protested, obstructed the transparency of the elections and precipitated seeming warfare in the electoral process.
INEC, however, assured that stakeholders that the commission remains committed to ensuring the conclusion of the elections and is determined to resume the collation of results in Rivers State on April 2.
The meeting was convened by INEC to engage stakeholders prior to the resumption of collation and declaration of results on the March 9 governorship and state assembly elections in Rivers State. The meeting had in attendance some political parties and their candidates, civil society, religious groups and security agencies.
At the interaction session, the various stakeholders indicated their expectations from the process at the end. They expressed concerns over the role of the military, and what is expected the security operatives during subsequent elections in the state.
INEC has about 48 hours to resume collation and declaration of results in Rivers State at the time of this report.
It was gathered that some governorship candidates walkout out from the meeting to express their dissatisfaction; however, INEC appealed to every stakeholder to give peace a chance to allow the completion of the electoral process in the state.