Rivers guber poll was credible, free ---Mark, former NBA scribe

(Nigeria) Former National General Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Mr Ibrahim Mark has declared that the April 11 Rivers State governorship  rlection was free and credible, noting that the people of the state stood their ground despite the antics of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
He explained that the issue of accreditation as recognised by the Electoral Act rotates round the manual accreditation of voters using the voters registers while INEC simply introduced the card reader electronic system to identify fake permanent voters cards.
Mark, a  member of the Body of Benchers,  Nigeria's Highest Legal Body who voted in Ikwerre Local Government Area,  same with former Governor Rotimi Amaechi said that the April 11/12 Rivers State governorship elction was the best in the recent history of the state. 
In an interview at the weekend,  Mark, a member of the Council of Legal Education stated that happenings at the Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal have proved that the election was peaceful and credible because the defeated APC has been unable to tender credible evidence to support their allegations. 
He said: "The April 11/12 ,2015 gubernatorial election in Rivers State can pass as one of the best elections conducted in recent memory in the State. The build up and the razzmatazz that accompanied it,  is another story to tell. After the Presidential election, wherein APC was adjudged the winner, the APC in Rivers State then woke up from their slumber thinking that with that victory,  they had the  apparatus of State Security services to use to turn victory their own way, not minding the votes of the electorate . Alas, they were hugely disappointed as the informed electorate voted thr choice, the PDP and her candidate. Upon this happening and feeling disappointed, the APC decided to file their petition at the tribunal and largely relying on  witnesses on subpoena to prove their claim."
He explained that the witnesses on subpoena attempted to support the false claim by the Rivers State APC that no election took place in Rivers State,  but forgot to support another false claim by the APC that the security agents aided PDP to rig the said election.
Mark said: "So on opening their case,  their witnesses turned out to be Soldiers and mobile Policemen who testified that their attention was drawn through distress calls of shooting and snatching of electoral materials . Under cross examination they admitted not witnessing any of the incidents but were told by people of what transpired. They also admitted  not seeing anybody carting away election materials. They also admitted not being present in any polling unit on the day of the election, but on patrol on the major highways.
"The star witness Dakuku Peterside admitted voting on the election day in his unit but that after that, hoodlums disrupted proceedings. He said he was in his Ward throughout the voting period and that all he was told as reflected in his petition were account of agents and party members."
He stated that INEC staff who have testified so far have tendered documentary evidence to prove that the governorship election was credible,  free and fair. He added that they have also made credible statements. 
He said: "So far,  INEC has called 8 witnesses. An Electoral Officer and seven Presiding Officers. They all testified to the free and fair conduct of the elections and denied seeing any army personnel or mobile policemen in their units on Election Day,  save the conventional policemen that secured their conduct of the election without any untoward happenings. 
The question that begs for answer will be, how can the testimony of people far away from the theatre of election compare with those in the election zone and active participants with statutory mandate to conduct the election. INEC will call more witnesses before closing their case, but it is evident that their witnesses so far have proved that the conduct of the election was free and fair and the winner duly returned."
The former National Secretary General of the NBA berated the Rivers State APC for trivialising the military and attempting to drag the image of the security agencies to disrepute by making them false witnesses on subpoena. 
He said: "There is nothing farther from the truth so far as APC is crying over spilt milk. They unwittingly dragged the armed forces into disrepute as their lying testimony did no good to the army and police. For the first time in election dispute, the army and police are dragged into the murky waters of partisan politics in a most inglorious manner.
"Let us return to the election as an active participant in Ikwerre LGA, my home council. On the night preceding the election,  the security agents,army,police,DSS all witnessed the distribution of electoral materials from INEC office at Isiokpo to three rack centers at Elele,Isiokpo and Omagwa with all the electoral officers and vehicles sleeping over under the guard of these security men. In the morning the materials were made available and they moved to the various units in the wards to conduct the elections.
"The soldiers work terminated after the distribution and onward movement to the units. The soldiers on patrol were different with election duty uniform different from those that protected the materials to point of distribution. So the officer who came to testify from Ikwerre LGA lied on oath as his work ended after distribution and the patrol team took over and were on the highways. 
"They came to the next unit to mine at Omagwa when  former Governor Amaechi came to disrupt the election there and it was recorded. In my unit,  the card reader was not working. We waited for their technician who was not forthcoming and the the Supervisory Presiding Officer told the Presiding Officer and Assistant Presiding Officer to go on with manual accreditation which is legal and envisaged by the Electoral Act. 
"Election in Nigeria is guided by paper trail following the Electoral Act. The card reader has no legislative backing and is tantamount to electronic voting. The card reader best use is to identify fake Permanent Voter Card and nothing more. As your voting still has to be guided by the voters register in accreditation and voting. The noise on captured accreditation by the card reader is a non issue as most voter verification was done  with manual accreditation where the card reader has malfunctioned or did not work at all to get the actual number."
Mark advised that Nigerian politicians must take measures to move away from the era of bitter politics characterised by negative actions to mislead the public. 
He said: " Let us imbibe the true tenets and meaning of democracy of respecting the votes of the electorate.   The PDP candidate and now Governor Nyesom Wike won fair and square and now has a 4year mandate of Rivers State electorate and must be allowed to deliver real dividends of democracy to the hapless people of the state.
" The people have passed through a horrendous trauma and should be spared further remembrance of the locust years as they pick up the bits and pieces of  their battered humanity. We must remember that there is tomorrow and the  next four years will soon be around the corner and what we do is being recorded."