..says they collude with APC, INEC to rig in the rescheduled election<\/p>\n
Bayelsa state governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party
\n(PDP), Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, has called for the immediate withdrawal
\nof soldiers deployed to monitor the ongoing governorship election.<\/p>\n
He specifically accused them of colluding with the All Progressives
\nCongress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC)
\nto rig election in seven wards in Southern Ijaw LGA.<\/p>\n
Making the allegation during a live radio interview on Monday in Yenagoa,
\nthe governor said despite of the calls by the stakeholders for
\npostponement of the election as a result of the security challenges, which
\nled to the death of no fewer than five persons, INEC went ahead without
\naddressing the issue.<\/p>\n
According to the governor, electoral materials meant for the election were
\ndistributed late in the night and subsequently hijacked by suspected APC
\nthugs aided by military personnel.<\/p>\n
He disclosed that some INEC adhoc staff and corps members are still being
\nheld hostage for failure to accede to the request of some APC chieftains
\nin the affected wards.
\nApart from intimidating and harassing eligible voters, members of the
\nleading opposition party hide under the cover of darkness to perpetrate
\nelectoral fraud, which includes thumb printing of election materials and
\nfilling of the election result sheets.<\/p>\n
Expressing concern over what he described as undemocratic act and a
\nflagrant violation of the fundamental human rights of law abiding people
\nof the state by the INEC officials and security operatives, Governor
\nDickson called for timely intervention of the international community to
\nprevail on the Buhari led Federal government to ensure fairness.<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cwhat the Nigerian government is doing is a coup against
\ndemocracy and subversion of my authority as governor and even of the peace
\nand security of this state.
\n\u201cIf you asked, who is creating this mess, it is the APC led Federal
\ngovernment deploying for the first time the military personnel to
\nhumiliate and attack people and forcing them to vote midnight. It has
\nnever happened anywhere in this Country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey reason for this avoidable mess in Southern Ijaw is because by the
\ncalculation of the APC led government with tacit support of the military
\nto forcefully hijack some election materials on that Sunday so that they
\ncan aid APC to write results without voting\u201d he submitted.
\nSpeaking in the same vein, the Acting National chairman of PDP, Prince
\nUche Secondus said the development is unacceptable, as it negates all
\nknown democratic norms, assuring the governor of the party\u2019s support in
\nfighting against political criminality and injustice.<\/p>\n
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately call to order the
\nMinister of Defence, Gen. Mohammed Dan Ali (rtd), the Chief of Army Staff,
\nGeneral Tukur Buratai, the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase and
\nthe top brass of other security agencies.<\/p>\n
His words, \u201cwe stand shoulder to shoulder with our governor and the good
\npeople of Bayelsa State. So far, so good, what we have heard from Southern
\nIjaw is shameful and this anti democratic measure being taking by the
\nFederal government, asking the soldiers to conduct election is absolutely
\nunacceptable.<\/p>\n
\u201cElections have been conducted in all the other parts of the Country. I
\nhave not seen this type of invasion by the military.Our advice to Buhari
\nand the Country is that the country is gradually sliding into a collapse
\ndemocratically. He should tell the Minister of Defecnce and Chief of Army
\nStaff that what they are doing in Bayelsa State is wrong and should be
\ncondemned.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
..says they collude with APC, INEC to rig in the rescheduled election Bayelsa state governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, has called for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n