THIS IS NOT FAIR ON TIMIPRE SYLVA AT ALL ! I CRY ! BUT WE WILL WIN AT LAST ! BY Tubonimi Abraham Ebiakpo

THIS IS NOT FAIR ON TIMIPRE SYLVA AT ALL ! I CRY ! BUT WE WILL WIN AT LAST !

 BY Tubonimi Abraham Ebiakpo




•If INEC cancels Southern Ijaw vote for violence, it must look
at other areas where peace was compromised
It is odd, as now often happens in Nigerian politics, that the
result of an election may not tell the story about the election
except as farce.

In the kogi State governorship, a sense of
foreboding pervades the declaration of Yahaya Bello as
governor-elect. It has now triggered ominous litigations.
Now, in Bayelsa State, another theatre is unfolding.

The resident electoral commissioner (REC) cancelled the Southern
Ijaw poll on the grounds of violence.
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Timipre Sylva, protested the cancellation, citing double
standards and partisanship on the part of the umpire.
Calling it a “rape on democracy,” Sylva said the REC cancelled
the election because his party had won and overcome the
lead of the rival People’s Democratic Party (PDP.

The election raised a number of questions. One, if it was
widely reported that violence sullied the elections in other local
government areas, why did the INEC pick out the Southern
Ijaw vote for nullification? Violence also flared in Sagbama,
Nembe and even the state capital, Yenagoa.

Ekeremor lighted up with unease when bands of hoodlums
rammed into the residence of the minister of state for
agriculture. Only a counterforce from the Joint Task Force
quelled the onslaught. A protest from the APC representative
was fobbed off by the INEC officer. Similar complaints
attended other parts of the state. It is therefore curious that
the same reason was cited in cancelling the Southern Ijaw
vote.

The other issue concerned the inadequacy of the military. As
violence ran rampant on Saturday December 5, thugs tossed bombs and unleashed a
variety of high-profile weapons. On Sunday, when only
Southern Ijaw Local Government Area remained after
cancellation .

It speaks of a failure of intelligence, vigilance and readiness.
The most egregious drama concerned the governor of Bayelsa
State who was also the PDP candidate, Seriake Dickson. He
had shown both on Saturday and Sunday that he did not want
the election to hold in Southern Ijaw. He personally paid visits
to INEC office against the law. More regrettably, he saw
nothing wrong in his acts. After that, his subordinates also
paid visits and curiously the INEC did not show any sense of
remonstration with a player cohabiting with the umpire during
a contest.

Later, on Sunday, he went on radio to incite the people of the
state to protest the vote. He asked them to surge to the
streets at 2pm, and tried to appeal to tribal sentiments
against the Federal Government. What he did amounted to a
breach of the peace. It is a treasonous irony that a man who
was elected to keep the peace decided to flout it in pursuit of
his personal interest.
Clearly, the INEC must steer clear of any impression that its
officers in the field are pursuing a lopsided vision. It must
work hard to ensure that the two elections conducted under
the watch of the new helmsman are inconclusive because they
are so, and not because of some subterranean designs.

If the Southern Ijaw elections must be cancelled because of
violence, it must also consider places like Sagbama and
Nembe where the APC protests, according to Sylva, “died like
a candle in the wind.” We cannot afford an INEC that
officiates a one-sided game.