Wike forces INEC to announce result as Sekibo returns to NASS

After a confrontation between Gov. Nyesom Wike and security agents monitoring election, INEC declared  Rivers East Senatorial District candidate PDP George Sekibo winner of the Saturday National Assembly election in the state .

The commission returned Mr. Sekibo winner, Monday afternoon, after results from the eight local government areas, LGAs, that constitute Rivers East were collated Tuesday afternoon, almost 48 hours after voting ended.

National Daily gathered Sekibo defeated Andrew Uchendu of the All Progressives Congress, APC. He polled 93,098 votes to defeat Mr. Uchendu who had 34,193 votes.

Wike mobilised his party members to the venue of the collation centre to demand declaration of the result. The people defied security operatives who were shooting sporadically.

They believed there was a plot to change the result in favour of Uchendu.

“We are ready to die, nobody can change our result,” the PDP members shouted.

The result included figures from Ikwerre and Emohua LGAs which PDP alleged minister Rotimi Amaechi had hijacked with the aid of police officers and soldiers. But as it was in the other six LGAs, PDP also won in Ikwerre and Emohua.

Sekibo is going to the Senate for the third time. He was first elected to represent Rivers East in the Senate in 2007.

He was in the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007, representing Ogu/Bolo/Okrika Federal Constituency.