PDP Declares War Over Bayelsa, Kogi Polls

The battle for the control of Creek House, Yenagoa and Lugard House, Lokoja in Bayelsa and Kogi states respectively, is moving to the election tribunal as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to challenge the victories of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last Saturday governorship elections.

The main opposition party has maintained that it was robbed in both states.

Shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pronounced David Lyon winner in a landslide victory, yesterday morning, the candidate of the PDP in Bayelsa, Senator Douye Diri, declared that he was robbed.

The Returning Officer, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) said Lyon polled 352, 552 votes and scored the highest votes in six local government areas against Diri who polled 143, 172 votes and won in two councils.

However, Diri at a press conference, said INEC and the Nigerian Army connived with the APC to rob him and the PDP.

Results collated from the PDP situation room indicated that he won Lyon in all the local government areas, he claimed.

Aside that, he said based on court judgment, APC was not on the ballot and any vote for it is void.

He maintained that by legal provisions, APC should not have participated in the election and wondered why INEC would not produce the Court order that directed it to include APC on the ballot.

“There was a subsisting court judgment that disqualified APC as of the time the election was conducted. The request by PDP agent at the state collation centre, Dr. Don Osusu that INEC should produce the order, which made APC’s presence during collation legitimate, was ignored. We urgently call on INEC to declare me winner. It is only shameful and laughable that INEC would manufacture figures. For us, the rule of law is under threat in this democracy; anarchy is looming in this democracy, democracy is being raped. All the figures reeled out are a charade and a ruse.”

Diri, who listed several areas in the state where APC leaders and Nigerian Army allegedly intimidated, harassed and molested PDP leaders regretted that INEC staff were also kidnapped and forced to accept fake results.

Governorship candidates from Gre¡en Party, United Patriots, DPP, UPP, APGA, NPC, NCNP, DPP and APGA have dismissed the figures presented by INEC for APC and aligned with the PDP governorship candidate.

In Kogi, Musa Wada had earlier rejected the results describing it as a sham and a murder of democracy

He said the result was not a reflection of the wishes of the people who willingly cast their votes for him. He urged all lovers of democracy to join hands with PDP in the condemnation of the entire process

Wada, who was flanked by his running mate, Sam Aro, at a press conference in Lokoja, decried the militarisation of the election saying security agents working in collusion with the APC harassed and intimidated voters who came to exercise their civic responsibility.

He said the entire exercise was a daylight robbery as results were written for the APC. He also alleged that the Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Busari, had relocated his office to Dekina LGA collation centre where he had field day doctoring results for the APC.

(Sun)