The Director of Publicity of the Restoration Campaign Organisation, Hon. Jonathan Obuebite, has called on the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command and heads of other security agencies to take urgent steps to check the protest by members of the All Progressives Congress, made up of thugs and hoodlums, who are currently on the streets of Yenagoa staging a violent protest.
In a statement, the Restoration Campaign Organisation, which is the campaign organ of the incumbent and governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Saturday’s election in Bayelsa State, Hon. Seriake Dickson, called on Bayelsans, particularly business/shop owners, to beware of these protests.
The Campaign said the protesters have specific instructions to unleash wanton violence and mayhem on the streets of Yenagoa under the guise of asking the Independent National Electoral Commission to make haste to declare their candidate, Timipre Sylva, as the winner of the December 5 governorship election.
It also urged the people of the state to take utmost precaution to steer clear of the protesters and guard against any form of molestation, pointing out that the aim of the protest is to create as much violence and disrupt the peace of the state to compel the APC-led Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the state, thereby making it impossible for INEC to hold the reschedule election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and create a stalemate until such a time that Dickson’s term in office would have expired.
The statement said: “We are calling on Bayelsans, particularly business/shop owners to beware of these protests, as we have it on good authority that, the protesters have been instructed to unleash wanton violence and mayhem on the streets of Yenagoa, under the guise of asking INEC to make haste to declare their candidate as the winner of the December 5 governorship election. As the protest is bound to get violent, Bayelsans are advised to take utmost precaution to steer clear of the protesters and guard against any form of molestation.”
Hon. Obuebite, however, expressed the hope that the security agencies will swing into action to forestall any breakdown of law and order.
The statement assured Bayelsans that the evil plot will fail, while equally calling on INEC to make haste to declare Dickson the winner of the December 5 governorship election, having won the election in six out of the seven local government areas where elections have been held and the results declared so far.
It said: “We are aware that, the aim of the protest is to create as much violence and disrupt the peace of the State to compel the APC led federal Government to declare a state- of- emergency in the State, thereby making it impossible for INEC to reschedule the election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, which will necessitate a stalemate until such a time that His Excellency, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson’s term in office would have expired. But, we want to assure the good people of Bayelsa State that, their evil plot will fail. We are, therefore, calling on INEC to make haste to declare His Excellency, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson the winner of the December 5 governorship election, having won the election in 6 out of the 7 where elections have been declared so far.”
Meanwhile, a civil rights organisation, Lawyers in Defence of Democracy, has asked the Federal Government to investigate the alleged role of security agencies, particularly the military, “in the whole episode of electoral corruption in Southern Ijaw” during the Bayelsa State governorship election.
Such investigation, LDD advised, must also look at the role of the police high command “leading to such mind boggling violence as widely reported in the media as well as that of the Independent National Electoral Commission to unravel any complicity”.
The National Secretary of LDD, Ikechukwu Ikeji, who tabled the demands during a press conference on Wednesday in Yenagoa, praised the courage of Bayelsans by fearlessly standing firm to defend their rights to vote even in the face of intimidation by security agencies.
Ikeji said: “The allegation of collusion by top officials of the army, police and those of the INEC allegedly corralled to do the bidding of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Timipre Sylva is unconscionable because it sends a very wrong signal of possible annihilation of democracy and rule of law. Yes, the rule of jungle is anathema in a democratic system of government. It is clearly a dangerous step which calls for a thorough investigation by the Federal Government before it becomes a routine in future elections and in particular when the Southern Ijaw election is rescheduled.
“This is why we call on the Federal Government to properly investigate the alleged role of the military in the whole episode of electoral corruption in Southern Ijaw as claimed by Governor Dickson which would be in line with similar on-going investigation of the role of the same institution in the 2015 general elections in Ekiti and Osun States. The investigation must commence without further delay.
“Such investigation must also look at the role of the police high command leading to such mind boggling violence as widely reported in the media as well as that of INEC to unravel any complicity.
“We have looked carefully at the whole scenario and think rationally that the governor’s accusation is not without some substance. It cannot and must not be dismissed as frivolous as the APC, an interest party, in Bayelsa has said.”