Governor Seriake Dickson has called for outright cancellation of the elections in Nembe Local Government Area which is the same area where 20 people were reportedly killed by gunmen during a PDP campaign rally.
Dickson made the statement while speaking with newsmen at his polling.
“Gentlemen of the press, today is a sad commentary on our nation’s democracy,” Mr Dickson who was accompanied by his wife and aides said to reporters around 12:20 p.m at his Polling Unit 5, Ward 2, Sagbama, as he arrived to cast his vote.
“As we are speaking, in this day and age, gun-wielding militiamen, with the aid of security forces, have overrun hapless electoral officials.
“Most of the electoral officials in Southern Ijaw, as we speak, are kidnapped and held hostage.”
The governor said election did not take place in Southern Ijaw, except Amassoma.
He called on the Chairman of INEC to issue an order canceling the process in all the affected units, wards, local government areas, where election materials had been stolen or hijacked.
He also urged INEC to cancel the electoral process in areas “where officials have been kidnapped and held hostage to enable the APC cook up non-existing figures”.
Dickson, who is serving his second term on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform and the party’s candidate, Sen. Douye Diri, also lamented electoral fraud and widespread violence.
In Yenagoa, a voter, Ebikeme Doubra, described the process as “peaceful except for isolated cases of attempts to snatch ballot box which was thwarted by security agents”.
“Some thugs attempted to disrupt the process and they were contained by security agencies in Ekeki and Opolo areas of Yenagoa, but other places were peaceful.
“The election was smooth and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be commended for the smooth conduct of this election. We expect them to ensure that our votes count,” Doubra said.
However, Voting has ended and voters now await the announcement of results across Bayelsa in respect of Saturday’s Governorship elections.
