BAYELSA GUBER- INEC DECLARES BAYELSA ELECTION INCONCLUSIVE.

Bayelsa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mr. Baritor Kpagih, canceled and suspended indefinitely, gubernational election in Southern Ijaw Government Area.

He said the poll was characterized by political violence and rigging beyond internationally acceptable standard as monitored by foreign and local observers and that a new date would be announced for the conduct of the election in the troubled area.

Briefing newsmen in Yenagoa, Mr. Kpagih, said the Commission had decided to reschedule the election till a later date, although, he did not announce the new date. Before the cancellation of Southern Ijaw Local Government result, INEC, had collated and announced results in seven other local governments, including Yenagoa, Brass, Nembe and Sagbama, Kolokuma/ Opokuma and Ogbia.

Reacting to the announcement, , Chief Timipreye Sylva, APC gubernatorial candidate, while addressing the press said such decision was unacceptable, adding that the REC has no power to cancel an election that had already been conducted. APC would reject the decision of the Resident Commissioner, describing it as a rape of democracy and unacceptable. He said that the party would probably go to court if there was any need for that, to redress the anomalies and reclaim his mandate. Further more he said that it was unacceptable for INEC to collate and announced election as conclusive in local government areas like Ekerermor, where the minister for state, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, Sagbama, where thugs chased away APC agents and had a field day rigging and many other irregularities , only to announced the cancellation of Southern Ijaw when it became obvious that Apc was leading.



Incumbent governor and candidate of the PDP, Seriake Dickson, was leading in six of the seven local governments, while the candidate of Apc, Timipre sylva,leads in one local government.
According to INEC, APC scored 72,595 votes, PDP, 105,748 votes and KOWA 13 votes,PDM,1,422 and Labour party,70 votes.

A government House statement noted that, the cancellation has vindicated Governor Dickson, who had earlier urged the commission and the security agencies not to go ahead with the election in southern ijaw in the light of clear cases of insecurity created by APC, were jittery and were losing in the results collated from seven out of the eight local government areas in the state. it called on the security agencies not to put the state under siege again in the rescheduled date. The statement enjoins Bayelsans to remain law abiding ang go about their businesses,assuring them of government's readiness to always protect their interest and also deliver democracy dividends to them and ijaw nation.