ADC suspends Rivers Chairman for anti-party activities

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has suspended its chairman in Rivers State, Hon. Sorlebari Sampson, over alleged anti-party activities during the April 17th Local Government Council elections in the state.

The party also stated that it was considering the option of taking the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), and other agencies of government responsible for the conduct of the polls in the state for deceiving and extorting money from unsuspecting candidates.

ADC in a communique issued by the State Working Committee of the party in Port Harcourt, yesterday, noted that part of the reason for the suspension was that the chairman adjudged the LG elections as free, fair, and credible when the process was questionable.

In the document signed by Eke E., Secretary, Richard U. INEC Liaison, Victor Chukure, State Legal Adviser, Emmanuel Deinma, State Youth Leader, Ogbanga Sherry, Welfare Officer, Irene Jumbo, Woman Leader, and Egila Luckyman, Publicity Secretary, the SWC of the party urged the Deputy Chairman to take over the role of chairmanship pending completion of investigations.

Luckyman, stated that the chairman of the party in the face of the local government council elections in the state sold out the party for personal gains.

“In accordance to the party constitution in Article 16 Page 45 on Discipline of Members, the State Working Committee of our great party hereby suspends the Party Chairman, Amb. Leader Sorlebari Sampson with immediate effect and the State Deputy Chairman Ode Lawrence Egbagiri to take over in acting capacity pending investigations on some withy allegations levelled against him (chairman) which include but not limited to the following;

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“Endorsing the just concluded April 17, 2021, local government elections in the State as free, fair and credible, on the 19 of April 2021 at the Presidential Hotel during an Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Rivers State press conference, which is not the position of the party, ADC.

“Without consulting any organ of the party, he took up an appointment as the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Rivers State few days to the local government election,” Luckyman said.

Luckyman noted that the chairman also fielded members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as candidates of the ADC for the election, regretting that the development plunged the party into disrepute. He noted that the local government council election in the state was a sham, adding that all the rules of an election were undermined.

“We state for record purposes that the April 17 LGA elections in Rivers State was far from being free, fair, and credible, as there were cases of no result sheet across all the LGAs as confirmed by our party agents on the field, that even our candidate in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Amb. Bright Abali and his team peacefully protested and went to the Police Area Command in Omoku on the election day, seeking the right thing to be done, and in Degema Ward 16 Bille, election materials were returned back to the LGA.

 “That the party is currently collating evidence and will meet with its critical stakeholders to discuss and come up with a position to either challenge the election in the tribunal and take every step to seek redress against all the appropriate authorities for extorting money from our party candidates who were deceived to spend their hard-earned monies in picking of nomination forms, tax clearance and campaigning only to meet with a big shock of electoral fraud,” Luckyman said.

Zainab Sa’id