*As Ogoni youths protest, reject Rivers South-East result

By Jimitota Onoyume  & Davies Iheamnachor

PORT HARCOURT— Senator-elect for Rivers South-East senatorial district, Senator Magnus Abe, yesterday, promised that he would not disappoint the people of his district.

Abe, who spoke at a church service at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, Bera, in Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State, said he was determined to tackle the problems of the district head on.

Abe, who was elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, assured the people of the district that he would step up actions to fulfill his campaign promises.

Meanwhile, Ogoni Youth Movement, OYM, has rejected the result of the Rivers South-East senatorial district in the December 10, 2016 rerun election which returned Senator Abe of APC.

OYM stated that the election was marred by irregularities, violence and killing and questioned the credibility of the process that produced Abe.

The group called for the cancellation of the election, noting that the re-run election had not been concluded in Khana Local Government Area before the result was announced.

Speaking during a protest yesterday in Bori, the Coordinator of OYM, Mr. Ferry Gberegbe, said that the result of the election did not reflect the will of the people of Rivers South-East.

Gberegbe alleged that members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the area were arrested illegally on the eve of the rerun election and that it was a case of intimidating the people.

Gberegbe said: “We are calling for the cancellation of the December 10, 2016 legislative election in Khana Local Government Area following the non-release of result sheets to most wards in Khana and massive use of men of the Nigerian Army and Special Anti-Robbery Squad to hijack electoral materials.

“We will continue to protest over the result declared in Rivers South-East particularly in Khana Local Government Area where there was daylight robbery. We have evidence of the irregularities that took place in the rerun election in Ogoni.”

Meanwhile, former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Chibudum Nwuche, has hailed the election of Senator Abe.

Nwuche, in a statement, yesterday, described the senator-elect as an accomplished lawmaker, who will give the senatorial district and the state effective representation.