The Labour Party’s (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, was claimed to have won the presidential election in Rivers State, according to a trending media report. The Independent National Electoral Commision (INEC) has criticised this claim.
Remember how the electoral commision declared that Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for president, had won the South-South state’s presidential election?
In the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, according to INEC, Tinubu received 80,239 votes to win, while Obi received 3,829 votes to finish in a distant second.
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According to results posted on the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV), however, Premium Times reported that the LP flagbearer ultimately won the election in Rivers and the Obio/Akpor LGA.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, stated that Premium Times reserves the right to publish reports on a variety of topics in a conversation on Monday in Abuja. He also added that he respects press freedom.
The news outlet’s report, according to Oyekanmi, was “prejudicial” because the matter was already before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal.
Although Premium Times reserves the right to publish articles on various topics, he added that it is common knowledge that no one, including media organisations, should comment on a case that is currently in court.
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“Unfortunately, what the media outlet did by publishing a report on a case before the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal was damaging. It wasn’t the right thing to do. I’m not sure why they did it or what they were trying to accomplish.”Due to this, I am unable to comment on it.”
