ANPP, LP Calls for Cancellation of Bayelsa Central Senatorial Election

The Bayelsa chapters of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Labour Party(LP) have demanded for the cancellation of Tuesday’s rescheduled Bayelsa Central Senatorial District election over allegations of wide-spread irregularities and intimidation by security agents.

In two separate protest letters which were submitted to the state INEC REC, Engr. Edwin Nwatarali Wednesday in Yenagoa and copies made available to the newsmen, the two parties alleged that election results from the various polling units were not counter signed by its polling agents and coordinators.

The ANPP Protest letter, which was signed by the party’s state chairman, Mr. Ayebide Fatiede and National Vice-Chairman, South South, Chief Livinus Opuakpa, the ANPP also alleged that security agents chased away polling agents from voting centres in Igbomotoru, Southern Ijaw Ward 6, when electoral materials arrived.

The letter reads in part: “Our investigation revealed that PDP masterminded and manipulated the elections and there were no free, fair and credible elections, hence our Agents refused to counter-sign the election as a protest and demand for cancellation of the entire elections”.

The Party faulted the alleged movement of result sheets from Southern Ijaw LGA to the INEC headquarters, arguing that going by INEC regulations, the results ought to be taken the LGA collation centre at the Yenagoa Council Hall for onward announcement.

“Results from Southern Ijaw council were taken to INEC headquarters, hidden there all this while instead of the collation centre contrary to INEC guidelines, and only later came out with a cooked version of all the results and taken to the collation centre”, the party posited.

The ANPP added that “in view of the obvious circumstances, we demand that the results of the senatorial elections of the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District concluded on the 26th of April 2011 be cancelled and a rerun election ordered without delay for the sake of justice and fairness”.

our correspondent however reports that INEC in the state had gone ahead to announce the result, where incumbent Emmanuel Paulker of the PDP was return as winner, polling a total of 106,279 votes to beat his closest rival, Chief Gospel Kpokpowei of the Labour Party.

The result which was announced at about 5.20pm by the INEC Returning Officer for the Bayelsa Central District, Dr. Bina Odogu, saw Chief Rufus Abadi of the ACN trailing third with 5,116, while Chief Pere Ajuwa of the ANPP came a distance fourth with 3,516 votes.

But INEC declaration of the result was greeted by protests by both the ANPP and the LP, as both parties objected to the autenticity of the of the results announced by the electoral commission. Collation Agents of the two parties at the collation centre refused to sign the final result before it was announced by the INEC Returning Officer.

Chief Paul Frank-Oputu and Chief Stanley Suobo, Collation Agents for the ANPP and Labour Parties respectively told newsmen that they cannot signed the results because INEC had erred by going ahead to announce the result without recourse to the petitions to the commission from the parties.

“Results from Southern Ijaw council area were cooked up before being presented to us here. Why should results be taken to INEC office before coming to the original collation centres? We are not ignorant of the laid down rules. We are rejecting this result, because our petition is on their table”, Suobo said.

While Frank-Oputu described the result announced by INEC as “a fraudulent result”, as according to him, “what INEC is presenting to us is not a reflection of the peoples’ vote. This is not a true reflection of the actual votes at the various polling units. We will continue to reject it till our petition is treated and justice prevailed”.

In his response, National Vice-chairman of the ANPP, South South, Chief Livinus Opuakpa noted that “By going ahead to announce the result of the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, INEC had gone contrary to its electoral guidelines”.

“We submitted a petition to the commission at about 1.pm, and now they are going ahead to announce the result of an election that a petition has been deposed already. This is wrong; we will pursue this injustice to the end”.

“It is very wrong because the INEC guidelines stated that when a petition is received, the commission should not announce the result, pending investigations into the allegations contained in the petition. This is our argument”, Opuakpa stated.

When contacted, the Bayelsa INEC Public Affairs Officer, Mrs. Priscilla Imoudu-Sule, confirmed that the commission had received the result of the elections into the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, after it had been announced by the Returning Officer.

On the petitions of the two opposition parties, the ANPP and the LP, Imoudu –Sule stated that for any petition submitted to INEC in relation to an election, the commission would investigate the allegations contained and review the entire election process.

She however declined to comment on the argument of the opposition parties that INEC erred by going ahead to announce the result, without recourse to the petitions on its table.