Fred Itua, Abuja

Less than 28 hours to the gubernatorial election in Rivers State, an agreement reached between the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state and Accord Party (AP), appears to have collapsed.

National Chairman of AP Muhammad Lawal Nalado had last week, told newsmen that his party made a deal with APC in the state to support its candidates in the governorship and Assembly elections.

In a statement released in Abuja on Thursday, the chairman of AP, who didn’t clear the air on the current status of the accord, said there was no High Court judgment barring the party from participating in the governorship and state Assembly elections

He lamented that political opponents were peddling propaganda in Rivers State that Accord Party would not participate in the election.

He, therefore, debunked the rumour, saying it that is a total falsehood, even as he assured the party supporters that the party was still strongly in the contest, having mobilised voters across the state to vote for the candidates of the party in the election.

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Nalado who described the rumour as the machination of those who were afraid of losing power to Accord emphasised that the candidate of the party stands tall above every other contestant in the governorship election.

According to the party chairman, although the High Court in Rivers state had passed a judgement that the party’s governorship candidate in the state for the Saturday’s governorship race, Dumo Lulu-Briggs, is not the rightful candidate, the party had appealed the judgement already.

He said that Accord submitted the credentials of Dumo Lulu-Briggs to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as its candidate for the Rivers governorship election, following the voluntary stepping down of the original winner of the party primaries.

Nalado further pointed out that the party was still with Dumo Lulu-Briggs as its candidate, insisting that the party’s former chairman in Rivers State, Precious Baridoo, did not at any point indicate interest that he intended to contest the governorship election.

He emphasised that Accord was still very much in the race for the Rivers governorship, asking the voters to come out and vote for the party and its candidates in the elections. He said it was the time for Rivers State to move forward, noting that no other candidate could move the state forward socially and economically other than Dumo Lulu-Briggs.