2019: Sowore Claims AAC Candidate Beat Wike In Rivers Before Tribunal Ruling

Sowore made the claim while discussing the controversial circumstances surrounding the election, maintaining that results coming into the collation centres showed the AAC candidate, Awara Biokpomabo, ahead of then-incumbent governor Nyesom Wike.

He said the AAC candidate had also received the backing of a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the party was prevented from participating in the election because of internal legal disputes.

“The candidate of our party who was also adopted by APC, in Rivers State had defeated Wike in the election,” Sowore stated.

Sowore was asked to clarify whether he was disputing Wike’s status as the declared winner. In response, he maintained that the former governor had been trailing before the electoral process was interrupted.

“He was defeated in the election. He won through the tribunal,” Sowore said. “He was losing. All the results were showing that Wike was being defeated, but they didn’t, they had not announced it, and then they stopped it midway and then went to the tribunal.”

According to Sowore, the figures available before the suspension indicated that the AAC candidate was already ahead of Wike.

“It was a very strange situation, but the results that were out was such that the candidate of the AAC had already defeated Wike in the election,” he added.

The March 2019 governorship election in Rivers was marked by significant controversy, including violence and disputes surrounding the collation of results.

The APC had been excluded from the election following internal legal battles, prompting some opposition figures in the state to support Awara, the AAC candidate.

INEC suspended the collation of results during the process, citing violence and alleged military interference at collation centres.

Collation was later resumed after the commission reviewed the situation, and Wike, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was eventually declared the winner.

The declaration was subsequently upheld by the governorship election petition tribunal and higher courts.