A group under the aegis of the Pan Nigeria Democratic Alliance (PNDA) has raised the alarm over plans by a frontline candidate in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State to deploy fake policemen as well as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials to supervise the process before and after the conduct of the polls.
The governorship election in Bayelsa is scheduled to hold on November 11, 2023.
In a statement issued on Saturday on behalf of the body by the Convener, Chief Olaitan Adewale said the candidate (name withheld) is engaging in acts capable of undermining the integrity of the polls.
In the statement which reads in part, Adewale said, “A frontline candidate and old political war horse (whose antics has not changed )in the November governorship election in Bayelsa State to compromise the electoral process by using fake policemen to hunt opposition figures before and during the poll. “That same politician only recently concocted a baseless petition to the office of the Inspection General of Police who defied the sovereignty of Bayelsa State by deploying some policemen from Abuja to occupy Nembe Bassambiri without even recourse to the state chief executive or the state police command.
“We are aware of the fact that that swats team is being kept and fed by that same desperate politician who recently boasted that with the militant’s one of whom is his deputy behind him, the results will be written and announced.”
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The group also alleged that it has information from credible sources that the same governorship candidate is working round the clock to recruit retired and serving Resident Electoral Commissioners and Administrative Secretaries across the country and other categories of electoral workers to perfect massive rigging of the election.
The candidate, the group gathered, is dropping the name of Mr. President to intimidate electoral staff in order to compromise some staff of the INEC to do his bidding and manipulate the electoral process.
“We are appalled by the desperation of this governorship candidate who wants to circumvent the process at all cost. He is planning to sew a police uniform for his thugs to harass and intimidate opponents. Not only that, he is recruiting INEC officers into his payroll and wants to compromise even genuine ones to do his bidding and manipulate the process in his favour.
“We implore the President to ensure that those taking criminal steps to undermine democracy in Nigeria are not supported or allowed to take us back to the dark days of rigging elections they should rather be dealt with. As for the governorship candidate and his supporters, they should know that it is not only the people of Bayelsa State that are watching the trend of things, but that the whole country and the international community are not left out,” the group.
“Recently, we all have seen how not allowing the will of the people to prevail in elections has led to a gale of coups in some African nations, which president Tinubu who is the chairman of ECOWAS is doing everything possible to restore democracy in those countries. Bayelsa is bigger than the personal ambition of an individual and we won’t allow anybody to toy with the future of the people of the state,” Olaitan said
He added that the people of the state are ready to defend their votes and would be supported by all lovers of democracy in the country and the world at large.