The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Rivers State chapter says it viewed the protest by leaders of the State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, led by Mr. Dakuku Peterside and Magnus Abe at the INEC Headquarters in Abuja as “show of frustration”.

A statement by Jerry Needam, media aide to Rivers PDP Chairman, Felix Obuah, described the protest as ‘touting’ by APC chieftains.

“Even though they lost in the elections, it is not the end of life”, it said.

It noted that embarking on such action at the INEC headquarters in Abuja clearly confirmed that Mr. Dakuku and his party men were irresponsible, desperate, frustrated, lost grip of events and had, therefore, resorted to civil disturbance.

“On the claim that the protest was mainly by various candidates of the APC in the last elections in the State, the PDP noted that certain persons, including the former Information Commissioner, Ibim Semenitari, and other unknown faces, obviously thugs, were seen in the footage of the event, describing the APC claim as false, deceptive and one of their usual propaganda.

“The PDP is of the view that the APC leaders have several civilized means to ventilate legitimate claims, if any, in the State, without embarrassing themselves and the State in far away Abuja, appealing to them to accept the reality of the victory of Governor Nyesom Wike and the PDP in the State and join hands to move the State forward.

“The PDP unequivocally bemoans the hiring of thugs from Rivers State to Abuja to cause havoc and to draw cheap attention and sympathy to what does not exist, calling on officials of INEC to beware of the actions of the APC leaders, who are only embarking on a mission to blackmail officials of the Abuja headquarters like in the case of Ghesila Khan and others of the Port Harcourt office of the Commission.

“We do not see any justification for such mob action by the APC leaders and thugs in Abuja, and therefore call on the President and other relevant authorities to prevail on the party and its members, particularly in Rivers State, to desist from acts capable of igniting crisis and anarchy in the State and the nation.

“We further appeal to our brothers in the APC to act responsibly and to accept defeat and embrace the positive change (the New Rivers Vision) in the State, rather than becoming agents of retrogression and clog in the wheel of development of the State”.