Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said it decided to announce the results of the legislative rerun election in Etche and Omuma local government areas of Rivers State in Port Harcourt, because the returning officers finished the collation of the results on Saturday night, February 25, 2017.

According to Ceoafrica, the INEC resident electoral commissioner, Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak, who disclosed this in a chat with reporters yesterday night, said the returning officers also recorded the same in Form EC 8B.

Ikoiwak stated that the returning officers were concerned about the margin between the two opponents and the impact of cancelled results in areas where elections did not hold or where ballot boxes were snatched.

He said, “When he was reminded that it was a supplementary election and that a winner needed only a simple majority to be declared, the returning officer insisted to see the legal officer and be sure of the position of the law.

“It was 2am, so they decided to come to Port Harcourt since they had the security personnel to ensure safety of the people and material instead of expecting the legal officer to go to Okehi that night”.

The INEC REC said at Port Harcourt, they agreed to reconvene at 9am. It was when the returning officer was satisfied with the position of the law that he announced the result.

Ikoiwak said, “The entire process was transparent, the result announced was the same that was collated at Okehi and there was no influence from anybody or anywhere”.