Bayelsa Decides: Observer Group Calls On INEC To Reject Results From Nembe, Brass, Southern Ijaw

An election observer group, Society for Protection of Human Rights, SPHR, yesterday, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to reject election results from Nembe, Brass, Southern Ijaw and Ogbia LGAs for gross electoral fraud during the governorship election.

This was contained in a report signed by the Executive Director, SPHR, Prince Deji Adeyanju, while reacting to the outcome of the governorship election in these LGAs.

According to the observer group, there were no elections in these LGAs due to massive irregularities that marred the process including violence, ballot box snatching and vote-buying.

The report reads in part, “The Society for Protection of Human Rights observation group along with other observer groups were at Nembe, Brass, Southern Ijaw, and Ogbia Local Government Areas to see how the electoral process was going, but we were disappointed following massive fraud by political parties contesting the election.

“There were no elections in these LGAs because most of the polling stations and units were empty, violence was used to perpetrate the fraud including snatching of ballot boxes. Most of the polling units had people manipulating figures and there were no security agencies in most of the communities where most of these irregularities were done.

“We call on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to reject election results from Nembe, Brass, Southern Ijaw and parts of Ogbia Local Government Areas because there were no elections in these LGAs.

“We also want INEC to remember these actions of violation of the Electoral Act should be dealt with seriously by not accepting results from those areas and it is evident to state that INEC officials were not allowed to perform their electoral duties and most of them were violently attacked and the were forced to a T according to the dictates of thugs used to disrupt the process.”

The group also pointed out that there were issues of the attack on election observers.