The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked speculations that it listed some hotels allegedly owned by members of the Peoples Democratic Party as Registration Area Centres in Port Harcourt.
Earlier on Monday, Eze Chukwuemeka, a chieftain of the APC in Rivers state, alleged that some of the RACs of INEC in Port Harcourt were located at hotels owned by PDP members.
The RECs, according to Eze, was designated for the stockpiling of sensitive materials and collation of unit results in the 2023 general elections.
In a statement, the former spokesman of the defunct new PDP (n-PDP), issued in Port Harcourt on Monday, claimed that the list of area collation centres and Registration Area Centres for Port Harcourt City LGA released by INEC revealed that some of the centres are located in hotels owned by PDP’s Governor Nyesom Wike and other members of the PDP. 
“Landmark Hotels owned by Senator Olaka Nwogu, a former Federal Lawmaker and ally of Governor Nyesom Wike, and Visa Karena Hotel, owned by Chief Sergeant Awuse, another PDP chieftain, and Wike’s henchman, featured as RAC for Orominieke and Oroworukwo communities respectively”, Eze claimed.
“Others are White Palace Hotel, Bebec Hotel, Hotel Dance, Comfort Hotel, White House Hotel, Maas Central Hotel, Danny T. Hotel, Orange Sea Hotel, Stanza Guest House, Thaland Place, Mainland Hotel, Ilo Garden Hotel, Mina Hotel, Otunkwe Guest House and Rachael Hotel.
“The ownership or management of the aforelisted hotels are directly or indirectly linked to the PDP and Governor Wike, therefore shortlisting them as RACs for the 2023 elections will undermine the status of INEC and as an unbiased umpire and jeopardize the commission’s reputation built over the years.”
In reaction to the allegation, the Public Relations Officer of INEC, Rivers State, Geraldine Ekelemu, described Eze’s claims as figments of the imagination of the author(s).
She said: “We (INEC) don’t have any centre in any hotel in Rivers State.
“What is being circulated is a document of ten to fifteen years ago that they have brought out. We don’t have any collation centre, registration centre, or even PVC collection centre in any hotel.
“So I don’t know where that is coming from, and I urge the public to disregard such misinformation.”
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