...Re-run lacks credibility - TMG

The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for an investigation into the killings that took place in Bayelsa State during last Saturday’s supplementary governorship election.

PDP acting national chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, in a statement yesterday, alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari was not disposed to free, fair and credible electoral process in the country despite being a huge beneficiary of PDP’s electoral reform.

The party hailed the people of Bayelsa State for standing against what it termed intimidation, rigging and violence to ensure that their will as a people prevailed.

It said the steadfastness and resilience shown by the people, particularly in Southern Ijaw would go down in history as one of the many sacrifices made to defend democracy in the country.

The PDP decried what it called desperation of the APC, alleging that the “APC thugs and compromised security operatives openly engaged in violence” resulting in the killing of ‘innocent’ Bayelsans.

“We demand a comprehensive inquest into these killings and that all perpetrators be brought to book.

“However, by standing against intimidation and remaining resilient, the people have greatly contributed in deepening democracy in the country and by so doing ensuring that their own destiny is right in their own hands.

“Bayelsa is a core PDP state and one wonders how the APC thought it could win in this gubernatorial election with its discredited candidate, knowing the strength and popularity of our great party in the state, in addition to the record of achievements of our candidate, Governor Seriake Dickson,” the PDP added. The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has said that last Saturday’s supplementary governorship election in Bayelsa State lacks credibility.

The group also describes the poll as an embarrassment to the nation’s democracy due to the high levels of violence, harassment and intimidation at the polling units.

TMG Chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Zikirullah, said yesterday in Abuja while presenting the final report on the Bayelsa election that there were massive instances of ballot boxes snatching, damage of election materials and stealing of ballot papers aimed at preventing vote counting and the announcement of results from taking place at many of the polling units observed in Southern Ijaw by agents of both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“TMG deems it that these incidents were of sufficient gravity to call into question the overall credibility of the election process and the legitimacy of the result. In the preliminary statement issued on December 8, 2015, TMG concluded that the Bayelsa elections held on 5 and 6 December were not credible. TMG expressed, in particular, its concern over the behavior of the two leading political parties, the APC and the PDP, which mobilized militants to do their bidding, resulting in violence, harassment and intimidation of poll officials, voters and observers. “The fierce undemocratic political competition and lax security deployment led to a volatile electoral environment and ultimately to the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa was inconclusive. This was so because the Commission was unable to conduct credible election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area,” Zikirullah said.

He, however, said that it thought INEC’s decision to merge the accreditation and voting processes was a step towards international best practice.

It noted that the timing of the decision, which resulted in a change of the electoral procedures 48 hours before the opening of the polls, did not allow enough time for officials to get acquainted with the new procedure.

While condemning security agencies for not doing enough to secure the sanctity of the election and security of voters despite the high alert the election triggered, he called for prosecution of those who perpetrated violence on the election to serve as a deterrent to others and sustain democratic growth in the country.