Apart from reportedly frustrating ‎effort to inspect the ballots allegedly used in the election in the state amongst other antics, the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Nyesome Wike, are also said to have moved in a lot of money into Abuja on Friday.

Strong allegations of planned bribery by the Rivers State Government has begun to swirl around the state’s Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal ahead of its Monday meeting.
Apart from reportedly frustrating ‎effort to inspect the ballots allegedly used in the election in the state amongst other antics, the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Nyesome Wike, are also said to have moved in a lot of money into Abuja on Friday.
Believed to be worried that it might have a very bad case, Wike is said to have‎ resorted to inducing some of the justices on the tribunal with a view to slanting their positions in his favour.
The governor, who is believed to be relying on his wife, a judge, and the wife of a former governor of the state is said to have undertaken intense lobbying in the last few weeks, reaching out to everyone he thinks could be of value to his case.
Besides, it is generally believed in the political circle that the reason Wike has been seeking and receiving approvals for loans is to enable him fund the tribunal.
The opposition All Progressives Congress in Rivers State alleged during the week that Wike had disbursed about N60 billion since coming into office.
The state Chairman of the APC, Davies Ikanya made the allegation.
The governor has also approached the state House of Assembly with a request for N10 billion loan.
However, the tribunal members are said to have maintained an uncompromising stance as far as the Rivers State election is concerned.
They are said to be determined to serve justice.
Their disposition is believed to be giving Wike and the PDP some discomfort since their reckoning that everyone has a price seems to be falling apart.
Wike’s fear is believed to have stemmed from a recent document of the Independent National Electoral Commission, signed by the duo of the acting Director in charge of the Legal Unit, Ibrahim Bawa, and Head of Data Management Unit, Information Communication Technology Department, Abimbola Oladunjoye, which puts the total number of accredited voters for the April 11 governorship election in Rivers State at 292,878, establishing the authenticity in the allegedly overbloated figure credited to Wike’s victory.
This, it was learnt, has become instructive for Wike, who might have to defend the fact that he legally garnered votes that were nearly triple the total number of accredited voters, going by the INEC record.
Wike’s case is made worse by the fact that the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, had categorically stated that there was no directive to the effect that the Permanent Voter Cards be jettisoned during the election.
The revelation came recently when Jega maintained that INEC did not change its directive on the use of card readers for the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections.
Jega spoke during a post-2015 general election assessment retreat for Resident Electoral Commissioners in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, with the theme: “2015 General Elections: Lessons and Way forward.”
He said it was only during the presidential election that the Commission instructed all the states that wherever there was evidence of card readers’ failure, they should revert to manual accreditation.