The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Bayelsa governorship election, Timipre Sylva, has rejected the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel the election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
INEC’s cancellation of the election in Southern Ijaw LGA had rendered the entire election inconclusive.
But Sylva, a former governor of the state, said the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Baritor Kpagir, had no authority to cancel an election that had been concluded and which result was being awaited.
He described INEC’s decision as a rape of democracy, which was orchestrated to benefit the Peoples Democratic Party.
“In Sagbama, there were no electoral materials. PDP thugs snatched the materials, wrote the results and it was accepted because it favoured the PDP.
“The same thing applied im some parts of Nembe, Yenagoa and Ogbia. We raised the alarm, reported the matter but our complaints were set aside because the PDP won. This whole election was set up for the PDP to win. I wonder why the APC was allowed to contest”, Sylva said.
“The election of Southern Ijaw was held on the 6th. The results were coming on the 7th after the election had been concluded. The REC did not cancel it when it was being conducted.
“APC will not take this cancellation. The REC has no power to cancel an election that has taken place. It is only a returning officer that has power to cancel an election.”
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