It’s an insult to say election held in Bayelsa, says Dickson

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Diri

The Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, on Monday, said it is an insult to the integrity of public institutions and to the people of the state to say that a governorship election held in the state on November 16.

He said apart from the alleged conspiracy of security agents that marred the exercise, the violence unleashed on the people of the state left scores either killed or injured.

“The reality in Bayelsa is that there was no election. It is an insult to the integrity of institutions and our people to refer to what happened on November 16 as an election,” Dickson told journalists in Abuja.

The Governor alleged that those who perpetrated the fraud arrived the state with already prepared result sheets and were given security cover to and fro the locations where they were camped.

He claimed that electoral officers only known to leaders of the All Progressives Congress were “carefully selected” for the state.

The Governor also decried the violence which he said was unleashed on supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party in Nembe, a few days to the election.

At the moment, he said 12 people have been reported killed and 93 injured and currently hospitalised as a result of the bloody attack.

Dickson, who expressed the fear that the casualty figure was more than that, said he had set up a committee to ascertain the figure.

He added, “From hospitals’ records, we can for now account for 93 people, who were injured during the attack on the PDP supporters in Nembe and are currently receiving treatments in hospitals.

“At least 12 people died from that attack on the PDP supporters.”

In some of the communities, Dickson said INEC moved electoral materials to deserted places where militants allegedly took over and wrote results.

“The story is the same in Southern Ijaw. Some SPOs have already approached us that they are ready to tell the story of how they were not allowed to do their jobs,” he added.

He said he would continue to speak on the need for the neutrality and professionalism of the military.