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Tag: Bayelsa

  • Bayelsa’s election of blood

    Bayelsa’s election of blood

     The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rescheduled Saturday’s governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayesla State but the process failed to produce a winner. Mike Odiegwu reports what led to the declaration of the election as inconclusive by the electoral umpire.

    As predicted, last Saturday’s governorship election in Bayelsa State lived up to its billing. It was not only volatile. It was bloody. Violence erupted in almost all the local government areas and allegations and counter allegations of rigging, ballot box snatching and other irregularities characterised the process. It was an election that was far from being free, fair and peaceful.

    Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) captured what transpired on the day of election in its preliminary report on Monday, when its chairman, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, told reporters that the governorship election failed credibility test.

    The election which took officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) two days to conduct, produced no winner when the results were announced. As it did in Kogi State, INEC declared the Bayelsa election inconclusive.

    Before the polls, expectations were high. For the first time, all the parties, especially the two gladiators, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), signed a peace accord, pledging to keep the peace before, during and after the election.

    The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, relocated to the state to reassure residents of adequate security. He lived up to his promise with the deployment of 14, 000 personnel to guarantee safety of electoral materials, INEC ad-hoc staff and Youth corps members during and after the poll.

    IGP Arase ensured his men locked down the waterways and that police helicopters provided aerial surveillance in the creeks during the poll. But, the officers were no match for the political warlords, who were battling for the soul of the Southsouth state.

    Although the police chief did his best to forestall any threat to peaceful conduct of the poll, the best was not good enough as the TMG said in its report that the security agencies involved in the election disappointed Nigerians by their conduct.

    “The Bayelsa State governorship election, no doubt, was a very bad election and didn’t have the minimum test of any credible election”, Zikirullahi said in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Arase assembled his officers and men and warned them against compromising the process.  He also held a stakeholders meeting where he announced his plans and reassured residents of a peaceful poll.

    Besides the deployment of 14, 000 police officers, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) also arranged a robust security plans. According to it, 15 trained sniffer dogs and 10,000 personnel were deployed in different parts of the state.

    Its Acting Commandant-General in charge of Operation, Nnamdi Nwaniyi, relocated to the state to supervise the deployment of the personnel with the State Commandant, Desmond Agu.  Nwaniyi said all arrangments had been made to lock down the state and ensure adequate protection of lives and properties.

    The army also had a similar arrangement. Operatives of the Operation Pulo Shield (OPS), formerly known as the Joint Task Force (JTF) were also drafted into the electoral process. So, with about 40,000, security operatives on ground to monitor election in eight local government areas, residents were reassured of a hitch-free election.

    However, developments during and after the election have made a mess of the security arrangements. There were allegations of connivance between operatives and do-or-die politicians, who did everything to violently rig the poll and compromise its integrity.  Trouble started on the eve of the election. Thugs besieged various INEC local government offices in Sagbama and other council areas, beating up party agents and carting away materials.

    Ekeremor, the local government area of the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, was a flashpoint. Early in the morning of the election day, the council was like a battlefield.

    Militants, who were armed with rifles, sporadically shot at the minister’s country home. As they advanced towards the house for undisclosed reasons, soldiers engaged them in a gun duel.  They retreated but returned in the evening with reinforcement when results were being collated. They were again repelled by soldiers.

    Similar incidents of shooting, physical assaults were recorded in parts of Nembe, Ogbia, Yenagoa and Brass. Voters were induced with cash in most parts of the state.  So, it was the case of votes-for-cash and many people voted for the highest bidder and not according to their conscience. The TMG and other observers said the election, in almost all the local government areas, were fraught with irregularities.

    The Southern Ijaw debacle

    Southern Ijaw was significantly deadliest. Rival militant groups engaged in shooting spree on Saturday morning. Staccato of gunshots continued to rent the air, sending voters back to their homes and electoral officers scampering for safety. It was obvious that election could not hold and INEC promptly shifted the poll to Sunday.

    The decision to hold the election on Sunday did not go down well with the PDP and its candidate, incumbent Governor Seriake Dickson. At a news conference jointly addressed by the local chapter chairman of the party, Serena Dokubo-Spiff, Southsouth Zonal Chairman, Cairo Ojuigbo and Senator Foster Ogola, warned against going ahead with the poll in Southern Ijaw. They said security concerns in the area should be tackled first.

    But the security agencies, at a meeting chaired by a Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police, Hashimu Arugugun, said the election should. According to them, be concluded adding that they adequate security to ensure a hitch-free poll had been provided in Southern Ijaw. Arugugun said 10 persons involved in the violence that disrupted the electoral process on Saturday had been arrested. He also said that contrary to reports, nobody was killed in the area.

    He said: “The INEC officials and security agencies met and agreed that the only local government, Southern Ijaw where the election could not take place due to logistic problems and other few areas where the election could not take place, the election will take place on Sunday, December 6th, 2015.

    “The report that some people were killed cannot be confirmed as corpses of the purported dead persons cannot be traced and their particulars could not be obtained from any source. Information at my disposal is that there was no death in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.”

    The DIG said they had deployed two commissioners of police, two Brigade commanders, five Battalion commanders and deputy commissioner of the NSCDC to Southern Ijaw to ensure safety of lives and property during the rescheduled poll.

    He urged the electorate not to entertain any fear, but to go out and exercise their franchise. “Nobody should entertain fear as security is guaranteed as the security agencies are ready and nobody should take us for granted”, he said.

    So, the security agencies were ready for the election and were fully deployed to conclude the Southern Ijaw case. So, as the election was going on, collation of results began at the Collation Centre.

    It therefore came a s a surprise to many that the state Collation Centre at the Multi-Purpose Hall located within in the Yenagoa Secretariat complex opened on Sunday. No a few residents thought that having been inundated with complaints of irregularities and widespread violence, INEC would cancel the entire process. But the commission went ahead with the collation of results.

    The PDP immediately established a lead with the announcement of the first result from Kolokuma/Oporoma Local Government Area. The lead became clearer when results from Sagbama, Yenagoa, Ekeremor, Nembe and Ogbia were announced. But the APC tried to close the gap with Brass result. At the end PDP led its closest rival, APC with 33,154 votes.  The PDP polled 105,745 votes against APC’s 72,594 as announced by the Chief Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Zena Akpogu.

    Then came the logjam, the PDP and its candidate were not comfortable with their lead as INEC awaited results from Southern Ijaw. Dickson first stormed Oporoma, the headquarters of Southern Ijaw on Sunday morning before voting started, perhaps to stress why the poll should not hold. There was tension in the council, but he was later persuaded to leave.

    Following reports of malpractices in Amassoma, a community in the council with largest voting population, the governor reportedly made efforts to enter the community but he was also advised against it. As the results from Southern Ijaw results were being awaited, the governor went on air to condemn the electoral process in the council. He also called on residents of the state to come out for a rally to protest the development in Southern Ijaw.

    Earlier, women and youths of the PDP had trooped to the streets and headed towards the Collation Centre to register their misgivings against the Southern Ijaw election.  They were stopped by security agencies. Sensing a disruption of public peace, Arugugun banned street protests.

    Two Toyota Hilux vans, loaded with unaccounted ballot papers, one of them bearing a Bayelsa State Government House number plate, were driven into the premises of the Collation Centre by persons suspected to be ex-militants. After appealing for calm, INEC and its officials, relocated temporarily to their head office and held a meeting with security commanders in close doors.

    When they returned, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Baritor Kpagir, announced the cancellation of election in Southern Ijaw, thus making the governorship election inconclusive.

    Making the announcement, Kpagir said he was acting on behalf of the national commission. The REC said the election was cancelled following disturbing reports that the election in Southern Ijaw was substantially marred by violence, ballot box snatching, intimidation and other irregularities.

    He said the cancellation of the election became necessary in the interest of compliance to international best practices. According to him, a new date would be chosen and communicated to all parties for the supplementary election.

    Why the fuss about Southern Ijaw

    Southern Ijaw is the largest local government area in the state with over 120,000 registered voters. Haul of votes from the council is capable of upturning a clear lead established by any party in an election.  With Dickson and Sylva satisfying the condition of securing 25 per cent votes in two third of the council areas, the duo stand equal a chance of securing the highest number of votes cast to emerge winner.

  • Bayelsa: Youths, women protest cancellation of election results

    Bayelsa: Youths, women protest cancellation of election results

    Tension gripped Bayelsa State Wednesday after thousands of Youths barricaded major roads in Yenagoa, the state capital, to protest the cancellation of the election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The youths who demanded the immediate sacking of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Baritor Kpagir, also called for the urgent release of the Southern Ijaw Election results.

    The youths, who chanted songs in solidarity, said the REC erred for cancelling an election that had been conducted with results collated and pasted in various wards.

    Scores of physically-challenged persons on wheelchairs also joined the protest which was peacefully coordinated by armed riot policemen.

    On Monday while the results of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area was being awaited at the State Collation Centre in Yenagoa, Kpagir announced that the election in the council which was conducted on Sunday had been cancelled.

    Election in Southern Ijaw was shifted from Saturday to Sunday because of widespread violence but Kpagir waited till Monday to announce its cancellation citing violence, hijacking of electoral materials and other irregularities.

    But the youths who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) wondered why Kpagir isolated Southern Ijaw for cancellation while ignoring other areas such as Ekeremor,  Nembe, and Yenagoa that witnessed similar irregularities.

    The aggrieved protesters led by APC stalwarts and some members of the party’s state executive council carried placards with inscriptions such as,  “INEC should declare Southern Ijaw results now” ; Ijaw People reject and say no to dictatorial and draconian policies of Governor Seriake Dickson; “the INEC REC in Bayelsa should be sacked” and “Bayelsa reject the cancellation of Southern Ijaw”.

    The protesters took off in the morning from the APC state secretariat at Yenizu-egene and marched through the Mbiama-Yenagoa Road.

    They later diverted to Imgbi Road and headed for the INEC office located along Swali Road where they were received by INEC officials.

    The demonstrators who carried flags of the APC and other materials of the party sang songs of victory saying but for Kpagir’s decision, their candidate and former Governor Timipre Sylva would have won the election.

    On sighting mammoth crowd of protesters, security operatives deployed around INEC premises took their positions while an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) moved towards the crowd to stop at the entrance of the road leading to the office.

    Policemen with shields bounced out and barricaded the road while a Police officer who spoke with the aid of a sound system demanded the reasons behind the demonstration.

    The leader of the protest, Mr. Famous Daumenighe said the youths had come to deliver a message to the commission in a peaceful and orderly manner.

    He thanked Bayelsa State for joining the protest and said the action was a struggle for equity and justice.

    He said: “INEC has conducted election in Southern Ijaw and the results had been collated in all the ward levels. Even the returning officer said they were waiting for the results from Southern Ijaw.  But the REC for the reasons best known to him was in a hurry to cancel an election that had taken place.

    “If the Returning Officer had cancelled the election, there wouldn’t have been a problem.  But the REC by his action had shown that he is bias.  If southern Ijaw is to be cancelled then other councils like Ekeremor, Sagbama, Nembe and Yenagoa which witnessed large scale violence should also be cancelled.”

    He warned Ijaw youths from Delta and other neighboring States who were allegedly brought in as thugs to disrupt the election to stay away from the state.

    Other speakers said the protest would continue until INEC declares the Southern Ijaw results.

    But Kpagir who was represented by INEC’s Head, Operation, Mr. Victor O. thanked the APC members for conducting their action peacefully.

    Victor was flanked by other INEC officials and security operatives including observers from the African Union (AU), Christian Victor, and International Republican Institute, Mrs. Ben Udensi, said the REC was in Abuja adding that the directive to cancel the election was beyond them.

    Earlier, hundreds of women and youths from Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State Wednesday, took to the streets demanding cancellation of the election in the area.

    They said the election in the capital city was marred by irregularities and inconsistencies in the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    According to them INEC officials refused to listen to the complaints of voters and agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    They said the overall results were not a reflection of the results announced by the Collation officer in the council.

    The State Youth Leader of the APC, Edison Sorgwe and a Chieftain of the Party, Alawei Opukeme-Jonah, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved voters , said the result announced by the INEC’s collation officer were inconsistent with the number of rejected and cancelled votes.

    They said the same cases of ballot box snatching, irregularities and violence which INEC relied upon to cancel the election in Southern Ijaw also played out in Yenagoa and should be depended on to annul the election in the capital city.

    They said over eight members of the party were nursing their wounds in various hospitals after sustaining attacks from political thugs.

    “We have lost confidence in the ability of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barton Kpagih to conduct election. We are against the cancellation of Southern Ijaw Local Government election,” he said.

     

  • TMG: Bayelsa governorship poll can’t pass credibility test

    TMG: Bayelsa governorship poll can’t pass credibility test

    •‘Security agencies disappointed Nigerians’

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Niyi Akintola, has said a Returning officer has the power to cancel election results, if there is widespread violence preventing people from voting.

    Akintola noted that where the violence affected more than half of a ward, the Returning officer could conduct a supplementary election.

    According to him, where an election had taken place and the results announced at the polling units, he could not cancel such election.

    Akintola said only an election petitions tribunal had the power to cancel such results.

    Another lawyer, Mr Ajibola Basiru, also said where there was violence and an election could not hold, the Returning officer could postpone the election, pending when security agencies would restore peace.

    Basiru said it was high time the perpetrators of election violence were brought to justice to serve as a deterrent to others.

    The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) yesterday said last Saturday’s Bayelsa State governorship election was badly conducted and that it would not pass credibility test.

    But the election monitoring umpire hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for cancelling the rescheduled poll in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

    TMG’s Chairman Ibrahim Zikirullahi spoke in Abuja at the presentation of the organisation’s preliminary report by its 300 observers.

    Zikirullahi said security agencies disappointed Nigerians by their conduct during the election.

    He said: “The Bayelsa State governorship election, no doubt, was a very bad election and doesn’t have the minimum test of any credible election.

    “Every aspect of the process was characterised by harassment and intimidation.

    “For us, it is not an election that can pass a credible test.

    “In Southern Ijaw, INEC workers could not move their materials because they were held hostage. There were gunshots and, many, including journalists, were chased into the bush by political thugs. There was no way an election could have taken place.

    “We support the cancellation of the election in Southern Ijaw, based on what happened.”

    The TMG chief regretted that despite reports it lodged with security agencies, three months before the governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states on likely flashpoints and the need to be proactive, security agencies allegedly ignored the warnings.

    Zikirullahi said: “From our experiences in Kogi and Bayelsa states, it is either the security agencies were compromised or they just wanted to dismiss our claims. For three months, we were spotlighting our feelings about security. Unfortunately, the security agencies disappointed Nigerians.

    “The Bayelsa example calls to question the integrity and capability of security agencies in the elections. As far as we are concerned, the election in Kogi State was conclusive, even though INEC described it as inconclusive. But for Bayelsa, the intimidation, harassment and threats were more. INEC did fairly well; the state was militarised.

    “The above findings suggest that the governorship election in Bayelsa State was characterised by serious irregularities throughout. These call to question the credibility of the election.

    “TMG calls on INEC to adhere to its approved guidelines and regulations for the conduct of the 2015 general election to ensure credibility of the electoral process.”

     

  • Bayelsa: INEC to declare results 6pm

    Bayelsa: INEC to declare results 6pm

    The Independent National  Electoral Commission (INEC) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, has announced 6pm Sunday as the time for results declaration.

    This was after Journalists and party agents have waited for about 9 hours.

  • Bayelsa: Returning officer, others yet to arrive collation centre

    Bayelsa: Returning officer, others yet to arrive collation centre

    Journalists are waiting anxiously at collation Centre in  Yenagoa Council hall, Bayelsa State to hear the results of three Local government areas which was said to be ready for declaration.

    The three Local governments are- Yenagoa, Sagbama and Kolokumor-Opunkuma.

    The agents of each of the political parties were also worriedly seated at council hall waiting for the result to be announced.

    But the reason for the unavailability of National Commissioners, returning officer and Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) at the collation Centre is unknown at the press time.

  • Bayelsa: Voting commences in most polling units

    Voting has commenced in most polling units in the Bayelsa governorship election.

     

  • Bayelsa: Sylva, wife accredited

    Bayelsa: Sylva, wife accredited

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) Candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva and his wife successfully did their accreditation at the polo open polling unit ward 4 Okpoama Brass at about 11:40 am.

  • Ex-minister Etete: peace must reign in Bayelsa

    Ex-minister Etete: peace must reign in Bayelsa

    The former Minister of Petroleum and one of the elder statesmen in Bayelsa State, Chief Dan Etete, has urged the parties contesting tomorrow’s election to allow peace reign.

    He said it was only through peace that the state could develop.

    In a statement, Etete enjoined the people to accept the poll’s results, saying Bayelsans should support whoever wins, to develop the state.

    He said: “Since July when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the timetable for the election and fixed it for December 5, a lot has happened. Politicians across the divide, in order to drum up support for themselves, have done everything under the sun, including intimidation and threat, to make their position clear to the people.

    “Some organisations have even gone to the extent of threatening President Muhammadu Buhari over the election. A militant organisation went as far as saying: ‘We wish to admonish President Muhammadu Buhari not to engage election riggers in the governorship election, as such vicious and surreptitious antics shall not only be vehemently resisted, but may also lead to waking the sleeping dog from sleep. We call on the United Nations and, indeed, the international community, to bear us witness as we are not unaware of the planned use of ‘federal might’ to intimidate the people of Bayelsa State in favour of their chosen candidate.’

    “May I say with every sense of responsibility that such threats have no place in democracy. There is enough room for everyone if only we can agree that all of us cannot rule at the same time. The founding fathers of this state, of which I am privileged to be one, have lofty dreams for the people and the state since its creation in 1997.

    Almost 20 years after, I am glad at the achievements of this great state. I am particularly happy that within its short existence, Bayelsa can with pride compare to other federating units in Nigeria in terms of human and material development. I am grateful to the Almighty that the first President from the Southsouth hails from Bayelsa State.

    “Gradually the Ijaw nation is beginning to enjoy a pride of place in Nigeria. We can only go higher at the rate at which we are developing, provided we do not use our hands to destroy what the founding fathers have toiled very hard to build.

    “It is on this pedestal that I stand to call politicians in the state, whether of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), or the All Progressives Congress (APC), and others to be cautious in tomorrow’s election.”

  • APC chieftain dares Dickson to present scorecard

    APC chieftain dares Dickson to present scorecard

    A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bayelsa State, Chief Bodi Arerebo, Monday, asked the state Governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Seriake Dickson, to stop whipping up sentiment and present his scorecards to the people.

    Arerebo, who is a kinsman of Dickson in Sabgama Local Government Area, said election is not won by constantly attacking personalities of one’s opponents.

    He said Dickson had been able to contribute to the popularity of Sylva by peddling lies against the former governor just to demonise him.

    He said Dickson lacked self-confidence because he had little or nothing to show the people for all the money he received in his first term in office.

    According to him the supporters of Dickson were increasingly becoming frustrated and desperate and resorting to violence for lack of conviction.

    For instance, Arerebo lamented that suspected PDP thugs stormed the venue of an APC rally in his Agorogbeni community, Sagbama, and unleashed violence on APC members.

    He said the thugs are sponsored by foot soldiers of the governor attacked them with weapons such as axes and matchetes and injured many of them.

    He said: “We had a rally in Agorogbeni, my community, in Sagbama local government, opposite Okobiri, and PDP thugs disrupted our rally. At the rally, we had over 150 people from the PDP that crossed over to the APC.

    “We were having a peaceful rally until people came from nowhere with guns, machete and axes and as I speak a lot of people were injured, and one presently hospitalized in an undisclosed hospital.

    “We have in good authority that people working for Dickson sponsored the thugs that attacked us. They said they were not happy that the people of the community decided to cast their votes for the APC.”

    He wondered why a government that has been preaching against federal might would resort to the use of thugs to harass and intimidate people.

    He said: “The man Sylva is humble. He is somebody who has the spirit of forgiveness, some of the people you have in APC today are people that worked with Sylva in his previous administration but abandoned him during his travail.

    “The people that worked against him call him bad names and brought the misunderstanding between Sylva and Jonathan all came back and he has forgiven them and today they are working together again and Sylva did not remind them of the past.

    “He did not even habour any grudge or hard feeling against Jonathan for his role in his infamous removal from office. In fact he was planning to go see him in his home as a statesman until Jonathan went on air to say he was in support of one particular candidate.”

  • PDP, APC in last minute push in Bayelsa

    PDP, APC in last minute push in Bayelsa

    As Bayelsa State warms up for governorship election, the two major paries, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), are not leaving anything to chance. Correspondent MIKE ODIEGWU writes on their last-minute mobilisation in the Southsouth state.

    The governorship election in Bayelsa State is expected to be a keen contest between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which currently occupies the Government House and the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The PDP appears to be under pressure to retain the state. With its members jumping ship in droves, the ruling party in the Southsouth state has been gasping for breath. Apart from the mass exodus that hit the party shortly after former President Goodluck Jonathan was sent packing from the Aso Rock Villa, aides to Governor Seriake Dickson have been resigning and joining the APC.

    In fact, the APC has gradually become the toast of the people. People now brandish their brooms, wear APC branded T-shirts, fez caps and joyfully bear the campaign materials of the party. It is not strange for most beer parlours to reverberate with chants of the party’s change mantra.

    Some people even prefer to exchange pleasantries on the streets simply by shouting the change mantra of the APC. The party’s flags are hoisted everywhere, dwarfing the flags of the PDP. Almost everybody wants to join the broom revolution.

    Observers believe that many factors account for the overwhelming support the APC is receiving in the state. Apart from the fact that the PDP lost power at the centre, the leadership style of Dickson have not helped matters for the party; it has forced many people out of the party.

    Besides, the APC’s demeanour has been wonderful. The party was expected to implode after the crises that followed its primaries and the selection of the running mate to its governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva. But, the party leaders proved critics wrong. They buried their hatchet, remained united and focused on the bigger picture of wresting power from the PDP.

    The appointment of ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari was also timely and strategic. The state’s ministerial slot was given to a grassroot mobiliser and a deep strategic thinker, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri. The Ministry of Agriculture, handed down to Lokpobiri has been the campaign weapon of the APC. Following entrenched hunger and poverty in the state, the masses believe that Lokpobiri and the APC represent their future.

    To test its popularity and acceptance, the party decided to begin its campaign from Bayelsa West, the senatorial district of Lokpobiri and Dickson. The district consists of Sagbama and Ekeremor local government areas. While Dickson hails from Sagbama, Lokpobiri is from Ekeremor.

    The rally in Sagbama was overwhelming. Kinsmen of Dickson stormed the rally ground to shower Lokpobiri and his team with love. The minister, who is also the Director-General of the Sylva/Igiri Campaign Organisation (SICO), showed he had a firm grip of his senatorial district. The influence of Lokpobiri and Sylva further helped to deplete the ranks of the PDP. Members of the State Working Committee (SWC) of the PDP, aides of Governor Dickson and about 2000 PDP loyalists, dumped their party and publicly declared for the APC.

    The PDP SWC defectors were state Assistant Secretary, Ben Oliver; Assistant Organising Secretary, Miriam Kingsley, and Ex-Officio member, Diepreye Alagha. Also two aides of the governor, Oberighakuma Yousou and Ayobegha James, resigned their appointments and publicly shouted the change mantra of the APC.

    One of the defecting PDP executive members, Miriam Kingsley, drew sympathy from the crowd when she took to the microphone and narrated her ordeal in the hands of her former party. After initiating and singing a song of freedom with the crowd, she said: “I was in bondage, but now l am crossing over to Caanan. I am happy that l have seen the light. I will no longer go back to Pharoh”.

    The local government area stood still and massively identified with Lokpobiri, APC and the aspiration of Sylva. A mammoth crowd of party faithful and residents of Sagbama trooped to the Sagbama Secondary School playground, brandishing their brooms and singing songs of victory for Sylva and the APC.

    The national leadership of the party temporarily relocated to the Dickson’s local council to add colour to the event. Vehicles of different sizes, including Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) struggled for space with sea of heads elbowing one another to catch a glipmse of the event.

    Members of APC National Working Committee (NWC) were led by the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and the National Vice-Chairman and former Governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni. Others who graced the occasion were a member of the national campaign committee and former Military Administrator, Lagos State, Buba Marwa and the APC National Organising Secretary, Mr. Osita Izunaso.

    The APC state Chairman, Chief Tiwe Oruminighe and members of his SWC, as well as many party stalwarts, including former acting Governor, Chief Nestor Binabo and a two-time member of the House of Representatives, Warman Ogoriba, were present at the event.

    Welcoming the guests,  Lokpobiri said the APC meant business. He said the recent survey showed that if elections should hold today, the party would win by 75 per cent. He said the state could not afford to be in the opposition.

    He added: “Are you not tired of hunger? We can’t manage another four years of hunger. The PDP is dead and the burial date is December 5. Pensioneers are dying in the state because the government owes them N20bn.”

    Before handing over the flag to Sylva, Odigie-Oyegun  joined other speakers in commending the people for enlisting in the revolution to salvage their collective destiny by December 5.

    He said the last time Bayelsa withnessed development was during the first tenure of Sylva. He lamented that Dickson could not give light, water and roads to his local council and appealed to the people to be patient and wait for the APC government.

    Sylva, who received the party’s flag amidst jubiliation called for a minute silence for the late former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and the late APC stalwart and former PDP Chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd). He likened the APC train to the Biblical Noah’s Ark, saying persons who failed to enter the ark would be swallowed by the Opuabadi (sea).

    He said when voted in, his administration would bring prosperity to the state and end the era of poverty and hardship. He said: “A new day is dawning over Bayelsa. We are going to bring prosperity and empowernment to you people, especially the youths. It is our responsiblity to look after the youths”.

    He said the APC government would be about the people and that the youths particularly would play active roles in his government. He said the first thing his administration will do is to embark on quick-win jobs to empower the people and reduce the scourge of unemployment.

    He vowed to stop the over-taxation of civil servants, saying it was inhuman to centre development around the salaries of civil servants. Sylva also dispelled speculations that if he wins, he would relocate the College of Education to his town where it was sited before Dickson took it to his council.

    He said: “I am not going to do that. I am going to show him (the governor) that l am not vindictive and vengeful like him. I love my people and l know that my people love me. There are some unfinished projects that we are going to finish. I am going to guarantee you 24-hour power supply in Yenagoa before the end of my tenure.”

    When the campaign train berthed at Ekeremor, Lokpobiri’s local council, it was a homecoming for the minister. All communities in the local government became disciples of the APC. Lokpobiri, Sylva and his running-mate, Chief Wilberforce Igiri, were warmly received by the mammoth crowd of residents and party faithful.

    All the communities visited by Sylva and his campaign team were agog as residents stormed out of their homes to identify with the party and Sylva’s aspiration. Lokpobiri and his team spent time visiting Agoro, Toru-Ndoro, Pere-Torugbene, Alaibiri and Ekeremor Main Town, all in Ekeremor council. They were given royal blessings by the traditional ruler of each community.

    All the communities in Lokpobiri’s domain wore the colours of the APC, as campain materials, including banners littered the area. APC flags of different sizes were hoisted and used to beautify the coastal communities, including the waterways and islands.

    Women, men and youths in each community, who proudly adorned the Sylva and Igiri campaign T-shirts, waited patiently for the arrival of the APC team. Some of them also proudly hung their APC membership cards. When Sylva arrived Ekeremor town, the community of Lokpobiri, the people gave him a heroic welcome and heralded his arrival by firing cannons.

    The APC standard bearer, Lokpobiri and other party chieftains moved round the community to exchange pleasantries with residents. At the campaign ground, over 1000 members of the PDP declared for the APC.

    At the Ekeremor campaign ground, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate in the December 5 governorship poll, Chief Christopher Enai, surprised the crowd, when he climbed the podium to endorse Sylva. He told the people that Sylva is the best out of all the contestants.

    Enai also asked the people to return the state to the path of development, by voting for Sylva and the APC.

    He said with the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, from Ekeremor, the state would be better positioned for development if an APC government emerged on December 5.