PDP raises alarm over plots to rig reschedule Bayelsa guber poll

The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) has raised alarm over plots to rig the on-going rescheduled poll in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and other units and wards in Bayelsa State.

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The Independent National Electoral Commission had on Saturday announced the cancellation and postponement of polls in Southern Ijaw and about 25 units in three LGAs in Bayelsa State.

The electoral umpire had hinged its decision on alleged disturbance and violence in Southern Ijaw and the wards and units affected.

It was reported that five persons were feared dead in Southern, though the police authorities dismissed the report.

The police had said that some persons were injured but that nobody lost their lives.

Addressing a press conference in Yenagoa on Sunday evening, Acting Chairman, PDP, Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, alleged that there was a grand plot by the APC to rig the poll in favour of the APC candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva.

The conference had in attendance bigwigs of the party, including the National Vice Chairman, South, Mr. Cairo Ojuogbo and Senator representing Bayelsa West, Senator Foster Ogola.

Dokubo-Spiff claimed that the opposition APC, having realised that it had lost in seven LGAs at the various units across the state, had resorted to using federal might to swing the pendulum of the election to favour the APC.

Dokubo-Spiff also alleged that Sylva had already gone to Abuja to consult with some senior government officials on how to perfect the rigging to give him an edge over Governor Seriake Dickson.

Dokubo-Spiff said, “The elections are going on and every responsible candidate should be at the theatre. The candidate for the APC, Chief Timipre Sylva, is in Abuja, having consultations with senior government officials who are giving directive to the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state.

“As a result of this development, the REC himself, as we speak is in Amassoma, taking steps and giving directive that accreditation and voting should go on simultaneously which is outside the norm.

“We have told you about the huge logistics challenges and that to go from one point to another in Southern Ijaw, will take about three and four hours. So, how do we expect the normal electoral process to be undertaken? In the event, we the PDP hereby say that is irregular, it is improper, it is unacceptable, we will resist it, we will not accept it. We must commit to do the right thing in this country. We will not accept it.

“The REC should be seen to do the right thing, he must not do the wrong thing at all. How can he say accreditation and voting must go on simultaneously in a place like Southern Ijaw that has geographical component as far flung as from here to Siberia? It is not right, we fear that there is intending plot to do mischief, that will not be accepted. We are saying this emphatically for purpose of the records.”

The PDP chairman, who narrated how he was gruesomely attacked in his home in Twon-Brass, accused the police of looking the other way when he alerted them of his ordeal which lasted for more than two hours.

He said the hoodlums, said to be APC members, held him hostage, and beat him to stupor resulting in his being admitted in a hospital in Brass.

While saying the PDP would resist any plot to rig the election, noted that the state and nation working committee of the PDP were irrevocably committed to ensuring that the election was conducted properly.

“We will not accept any irregularity. Enough is enough,” he warned.

Meanwhile, over one thousand youths are protesting the outcome of the results in Sagbama and Yenagoa local government area over wild irregularities, violence and substantial electoral malpractice.

The youths however called for the cancellation of the governorship election.