By Amos Okioma
Senator Douye Diri the gubernatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the November 16 election has urged the INEC to declare him as the winner of the election as the result declared in favour of APC’s David Lylon was a sham and a ruse.
He stressed that the election was characterized by rigging, kidnapping, use of the security agencies and was an aberration to our nascent democracy.
Senator Douye who was flanked by his running mate, senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo and other parties governorship candidates stated this in a press conference in Yenagoa.
According to him, the results declared by INEC were concocted, manufactured and allocated figures which were done in connivance with the military which arrested and detained PDP chieftains to the bidding of APC Federal might.
He said there were reported cases of hijacking of electoral materials, intimidation, unleashing of violence on hapless members of PDP by the APC in the presence of the military and other security agencies, adding that PDP went out to contest, but the APC was prepared for war which resulted to inflicting injuries on 20 PDP members among which were the chairman of Ogbia Local Government Area, Hon Ebiyoun Turner and a member of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon Gibson Munalayefa.
“Some of the injured persons are being hospitalized in an undisclosed clinic in Bayelsa state.”
He also made mention of personalities that perpetrated these electoral malpractices to include, Hon Maxwell Okoh, Tiwe Orunimighen and Sam Ugbuku who are APC chieftains .
“Maxwell Okoh, recently nominated as Executive Director Finance and Administration, NDDC, former chief of staff to governor Timipere Sylva and Chief Tiwei Orunimighen who defected to PDP and later returned to APC were responsible for a lot of electoral malpractices during the election, “he said.
He also alleged that the GOC of the 16 Brigade has been transferred but refused to leave until after the election.
He was supported in the call for the cancellation of the results and declare him the rightful winner by the Coalition of other political parties which averred that with recent litigation the APC has no moral justification to contest the election, rather the contest should be between PDP and other parties, excluding the APC which the INEC illegally declared the winner.
He said that the authentic results from the situation reports of the election from the eight local government areas should be considered and not that which INEC had used.
He therefore urged the party members not to mourn, should be celebrating victory as INEC will surely announce him and declare that what the electoral umpire did was null and void, just as the Coalition of political parties posited that should INEC fail to declare the PDP candidate as winner and governor-elect, there shall parallel government in Bayelsa State.
They also accused the National chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomole who was used to contact the vice chancellor of university of Benin, prof Farade Oruwense who also recruited virtually all lecturers from the university of Benin as collation officers to do the bidding of the All Progressive Congress.
Also speaking to condemn the results, the South – South chairman of the PDP, Chief Emma Ogidi urged INEC to redeem its battered image, insisting that democracy entails popularity and not rigging or intimidation.