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By Amos Odeh, Yenagoa
Those who think that they would engage in ballot box snatching, thuggery and violence to win in the rescheduled elections on February 22 and March 9, 2019 should have a rethink as Nigerians are becoming wiser and more enlightened by the day.
A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Hon. Festus Akpowei Kemelayefa who is also the chairman of the management committee of Swali Ultra-Modern Market made this known while speaking on the postponement of last Saturday’s elections.
He
said that those who perpetrate electoral violence don’t have their
children residing in Nigeria, noting that ballot snatching is no longer in
trend.
According to Kemelayefa: “The postponement (of the elections) was
frustrating, worrisome and unexpected and whether the Independent
Electoral Commission ( INEC ) postponed the elections twenty times any time any
day the election was fixed, the People’s Democratic Party ( PDP ) will coast
home to victory in the presidential and National Assembly elections in all the
eight local government areas of Bayelsa State.
“PDP campaigned in all the communities and the legacy projects of the Restoration Government under Governor Seriake Dickson, such as the three senatorial district roads, the International Airport, the strides in education, hospital are verifiable evidence that will convince the electorate to vote only the PDP to consolidate on the foundation laid.
“But the All Progressive Congress (APC) did not campaign and had nothing to show, rather its chieftains and leaders have turned ‘diaspora politicians’ in Abuja who sneak in and sneak out of Yenagoa,” he said.
Kemelayefa noted that ballot box snatching and hijacking of materials will never be a criteria for winning an election in Bayelsa state in 2019. “Bayelsa state is dominated by PDP as all other parties do not have structures on ground, but they only exist on Facebook. Come Saturday PDP will win all the elections,” he said.
“We have also sensitized our party members against hijacking of election materials, because any ballot box snatched will declare such units votes as void and its only units where genuine elections were held that would be accepted.
“They should understand that ballot box snatching and use of thuggery is no longer in vogue as Bayelsans have become wiser and question why politicians use innocent youths to commit electoral violence while they send their children to neighboring countries and abroad during elections. Majority of the children of opposition party have been sent abroad. They intend to use gullible and innocent youths as thugs and ballot box snatchers, their antics will fail them this time around, they should brace up to free, fair and credible elections devoid of rigging, manipulation and allow electorate to vote according to their conscience,” Kemelayefa said.
He said during the 2015 elections he was the PDP ward agent at Ekeremor and the election was characterized by violence and hijacking of electoral materials, adding that the materials hijacked were not counted.
He advised Bayelsans to maintain the dominance of the PDP as the only party that will continue to exist in the state. “Nigeria operates multi-party system and it is not only PDP and APC, some other parties are not practical, they only campaigned on Facebook and they are contesting to bargain for appointments. Bayelsa is a PDP state and it will remain so forever,” he said.
