Following the cancellation of election results in Southern Ijaw Local Government and the declaration of last weekend’s governorship election in Bayelsa State as inconclusive by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the 120,827 registered voters in the local government are the tie-breakers for the final outcome of the electoral contest.
INEC declared the Bayelsa governorship poll inconclusive after cancelling votes from Southern Ijaw, the biggest and mainly riverine local government area of the state.
Announcing its decision at the collation centre in Yenagoa, the state capital, the electoral body noted that the governorship election in Southern Ijaw would be held at a date yet to be decided.
Results from seven of the eight LGAs of the state have so far been declared by INEC. Those from the area was cancelled, following reports that the election in the area was characterized by violence, ballot box-snatching and abduction of electoral officials.
Election was not held in the local government on Saturday due to violence, which forced INEC to postpone it to Sunday.
According to the results collated so far, Governor Seriake Dickson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is leading in six of the seven local government areas where results have been announced. He polled 105,748 votes, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva trails with 72,594 votes.
This is the second governorship election INEC has conducted under the leadership of new INEC boss, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, that has been declared inconclusive in the last two weeks, the first being in Kogi.
Earlier Monday, before the decision was taken, INEC’s Chief Returning Officer for the Bayelsa governorship election, Professor Zana Akpagu, had put the collation of the results on hold following a protest against its conduct of in Southern Ijaw area.
Women in the state stormed INEC office in Yenagoa where they staged a peaceful protest against the conduct of the rescheduled election in the state.
The protesting women were dressed in black attire and carried placards with inscriptions such as: “Leadership is about building and not destroying”; “INEC, are you still independent?” “Buhari, are you still for everybody and for nobody?” and “No vote in Southern Ijaw wards.”
The protesting women, drawn from the eight local governments of the state, were led by the state women leader of PDP, Madam Faith Obiene, and they moved towards the INEC collation centre chanting war songs and accusing INEC of colluding with APC to disenfranchise the people of the state.
Obiene said though the decision to reschedule the election was normal, INEC must put the necessary machinery in motion to protect lives and materials for the election in order to avoid a repeat of the charade termed election in Southern Ijaw.
Following this development, the Bayelsa State Police Command banned all forms of procession, rallies or demonstrations in the state.
The Deputy Inspector-general of Police in charge of training and development as well as the Bayelsa election Hashimu Argungu, in a statement in Yenagoa, said the ban followed intelligence report of a plan by disgruntled elements to carry out illegal demonstrations, processions and rallies in the state capital
“This form of conduct will jeopardize the ongoing electoral process. Therefore, the command warns the intending perpetrators to desist from such acts as it will deal decisively with any person or group of persons who wishes to engage in any conduct that will compromise the existing peaceful atmosphere,” he warned.
Argungu urged members of the public to go about their normal businesses “as the security agencies are poised to guarantee the safety of lives and properties.”
PDP insists on cancellation of Southern Ijaw results
The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) later commended the courage of the people of Bayelsa State in fearlessly curtailing APC’s rigging machinery, which led to the cancellation of the fabricated elections in Southern Ijaw local government area.
The party said but for the bravery of Bayelsans, who stood up for their votes against the harassments by the military and other security forces, their will as a people would have been completely subverted in the election.
The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh said it was proud of the actions and concerted efforts of its members in resisting rigging and impunity.
“We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the wanton confiscation and transfer of voting materials by security operatives directly to APC agents for outright allocation of votes. For the purposes of the rescheduled Southern Ijaw election, we wish to make it abundantly clear that we are ready, willing and able to defend the choice of the people.
“Never again will this leadership of PDP allow our party candidates to be manipulated out of any election at any level. In that regard, we have activated our structures across the country to defend our mandate always, with all force and means available in a democracy.
“Nevertheless, we are indeed concerned about the apparent inability of the present INEC to conduct a credible election in a single state, especially in the light of the fact that very soon, they will need to conduct a general election in all the states.”
PDP Reps raise alarm over APC, JTF roles in Southern Ijaw
Meanwhile, the PDP Caucus in the House of Representatives Monday raised alarm over the alleged conspiracy by APC and personnel of the military Joint Task Force (JTF) in Bayelsa State to rig the governorship election in the contentious Southern Ijaw local government area of the state.
Minority leader of the House and leader of the Caucus, Hon. Leo Ogor, who spoke to journalists on behalf of the PDP lawmakers in Abuja, also called for the cancellation of election results from Southern Ijaw local government and called for a fresh poll in an atmosphere of peace and security where the electorate will be allowed to make a free choice.
The Caucus also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the crisis immediately so as to save the nation’s democracy, which it said was a legacy bequeathed to APC by PDP.
Ogor said, “Clearly, election has taken place and it is still ongoing. But the unfortunate aspect of it that has come to play here is what is going on in Southern Ijaw local government where the JTF is conniving with APC to snatch ballot boxes and attempting to write results in favour of APC, which is very, very embarrassing to all of us.
“It’s important, therefore, that we call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and on his party members also, to ensure that what is going on be stopped immediately. We also need to remind them that if PDP had behaved the way APC is behaving now, the opposition then may not have become what it is now, and democracy may have collapsed.
“We have allowed the principles and ethos of democracy to hold sway, because democracy is about the people having their say. The right to vote and be voted for is that of the citizens; that is guaranteed by the Constitution. But a situation whereby somebody, specifically APC group in this case, has decided to take laws into its hands, working in conjunction with the JTF to manipulate the process in Southern Ijaw, is not acceptable.”
Dickson, Sylva differ over Southern Ijaw poll’s cancellation
Governor Seriake Dickson and Chief Timipre Sylva were on parrallel paths Monday over the cancellation of results from Southern Ijaw local government, the home council of the late Governor General of Ijaw Nation and first civilian governor of the state, Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha.
While Dickson hailed the move, Sylva kicked, saying that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) has no power to do so.
According to Sylva, the power to cancel a duly held election rests with the State Returning Officer and not the REC and as such, the votes should be counted.
However, Dickson hailed the cancellation of the rescheduled election in the council area saying if the commission had heeded his advice, it would have saved the nation from the avoidable waste of public funds.
He pointed out that the decision to hold the election on Sunday by INEC was ill-advised, taking into consideration the security situation and peculiar nature of the area.
The National leadership of the PDP said Monday that the courageous move put in place by the people of Bayelsa to curtail the planned moves by APC to rig the election in Southern Ijaw led to the cancellation of the results in the area.
In a statement by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP while hailing the zeal and the bravery of the people, stressed that but for the bravery of Bayelsans in standing up for their votes against the hordes of harassments by the military and other security forces working for the APC, their will as a people would have been completely subverted in the election.
-Leadership/Vanguard