Poll: Police arrest BYHA speaker aide, 24 others over alleged electoral offences

An aide to the Bayelsa state House of Assembly speaker, Mr. Goodluck Obodo Osita, was yesterday arrested for allegedly possessing electoral materials during the exercise in the state, just as Twenty four others were arrested by the state police command including six mobile police.

Obodo who was apprehended by other opposition party supporters in the area, confessed been sent by the speaker of the Bayelsa state house of Assembly, Hon. Nestor Binabo representing Sagbama constituency 2.

The speaker was also accused of intimidating the whole community with over five hundred armed youths at all polling unit with the connivance of security agents and induced youth corpers.

The victim who was detained by the men of the state security service (SSS) with ballot box, corpers uniform, bank cheque and other electoral materials disclosed that he was working under the instructions of the speaker to carry out electoral fraud, adding that the corpers whose uniform and identity was with him had absconded.

The Bayelsa state Commissioner of police, Mr. Adeshina Shinaba confirmed the arrest and stated that those arrested will be prosecuted for their involvement in the electoral fraud.

One of the incidents that happened at the metropolis, Opolo area, unit 04, Epie 2 ward 5, the unit of a sitting senator representing the central district in the state, Senator Emmanuel Pauker, showed the kind of politics in the state by the ruling party that constitutes more fraud than a revolution in the state.

Pauker was allegedly accused of inducing the corpers at the unit and others at the Biogolo unit 16 and 17 under the same ward, the security agent in charge, inspector W.A Ukwenya and electorate in the area, meanwhile his supporters almost clamp down on BOF’s correspondent who was a camera at the scene.

The Twenty four House of Assembly constituency elections and the re-scheduled Bayelsa central senatorial district elections in the state yesterday was reportedly marred with irregularities, just as youths and other aggrieved parties faithful in the state condemned the just concluded exercise.

A group of aggrieved youth numbering over two hundred carrying placards protesting in the state from their constituency in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local government area of the state with the Labour Party T-shirt trouped the state INEC office in Yenagoa.

The aggrieved group was led by the candidate vying to represent Kolokuma/Opokuma constituency 1 under the Labour Party, Hon. Tonye Isenah Emmanuel, stated that despite the glamour by Nigerians to witness a credible election in the country some disgruntled elements in the ruling party of state has resolved to be involved in malpractice.

Isenah mentioned that the returning officer of the ward was attacked by members of the People’s Democratic party supporters when they perceived that they had almost lost the constituency seat to his favour, adding that higher stalwarts of the party are putting pressure on INEC to disapprove his victory and announce the result inconclusive.

According to the gubernatorial candidate of the Labour party in the state, Mr. Ndutimi Alaibe, who expressed dissatisfaction over mass irregularities in the electoral process of the state, when he casted his vote at about 12.38pm at unit 14 of the Kolokuma/Opokuma ward 7, maintained that Bayelsans should note that those primitive times of electoral fraud, stuffing and hijacking of ballot boxes are outdated.

He admonished Bayelsans to join the rest of the world to do the right thing, adding that times when electoral ballot papers are hijacked and materials destroyed by desperate politicians are past rather electorate should be allowed to vote in their leaders sincerely and transparently.

On the issue of re-schedule senatorial election, he stated that “ the fundamental issue was that there was fraud, people were alleged to have carried ballot box to their home to stuff in thumb print ballot papers, that’s aberration and it shouldn’t happened, its an enactment of negative issue and we ensure that INEC is up to the task to maintain a hitch free process.

The facts that most local communities are not easily accessed does not give any body the privilege to seize the franchise of the people to his own domain and if they try it again we will announce it, we still that commissioners in that area are still carrying out the same act which shows no respect for Mr. President’s one man one vote mantra.