NGOs Protest Fraudulent Election Results in Bayelsa
NGOs Protest
Fraudulent Election Results in Bayelsa
By Donald Sylva
Members of various non-governmental organisations and civil society
groups in Bayelsa State, on Wednesday, staged a peaceful protest over the
conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections in some parts of
the state.
Comrade Toitoi Newton of the Grassroots For Development, who led the
protest to the Independent National Electoral Commission office in Yenagoa,
told journalists that the CSOs demand a cancellation of the purported results
from Constituency 4 in Southern Ijaw council and Nembe-Bassambiri in Nembe
council where election materials were carted away.
According to Comrade Newton, elections did not hold in the seven wards
of Nembe-Bassambiri due to the violence orchestrated by political thugs aided
by security personnel deployed in the community.
He said the people were disenfranchised as they were chased away from
their communities on the day of the election.
Comrade Stephen Seleke of the Advocacy for Peace also said anything
contrary to the guidelines of the election would not be acceptable to them.
He said the body was not interested in promoting any particular
political party in the country but the protest was to register their grievances
over the conduct of last Saturday's elections in the state.
Mr. Seleke noted that the entire state and indeed the Niger Delta region
was militarised to undermine, frustrate and intimidate voters from exercising
their civic responsibilities.
He called for outright rejection of results from areas marred by
electoral violence. Other non-governmental bodies under the
aegis of Young Nigerians in Politics, Transformed Ladies of Bayelsa and Onward
Restoration Movement were also part of the protest.
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