Supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa Wednesday clashed at a stakeholders’ meeting with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Yenagoa.
Trouble started when a Chieftain of the PDP, Francis Topolo, revealed that thousands of people in Nembe Local Government had been internally displaced for refusing to vote for candidates of a particular political party during the Presidential and National Assembly elections and that something must be urgently done to enable them to exercise their franchise at the November 16 governorship elections.
He was interrupted by an APC chieftain, Dennis Otiotio, who ordered him not to mention the name of Nembe. This caused a roar at the venue of meeting which ended abruptly to avoid escalation as supporters of both parties were ready to exchange blows despite efforts by security operatives restore order.
Meanwhile, Police authorities announced at the meeting that they had deployed over 30,000 policemen for the Bayelsa governorship election.
Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, represented by Deputy Inspector-General Operations, Abdulmajid Ali, said the Force had made adequate deployment for the election as it was its responsibility to protect the voters, INEC officials, and election materials.
Ali warned politicians against utterances that could lead to a breach of peace before, during and after the election.
“The police will not be here for a tea party. Campaigns must be done according to rules and regulations. We will provide an enabling environment for all the aspirants.
“We are also aware that some people are planning to wear police uniforms. That I can tell you will be met with strict resistance. Our men will be on ground three to four days to the election,” he stated.
Earlier, INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, warned that the Commission would no longer tolerate attacks on its officials and reiterated the commission’s commitment to free, fair and credible polls in Bayelsa.
“We want to remind candidates and their supporters that attacks on officials of the commission will this time attract severe sanctions. It has happened before where we refused candidates who attacked our staff their Certificates of Return.
“In one of such cases, the court ordered that we give the candidate his COR and as a respecter of a court order, we did. But we are determined to follow the matter to the Supreme Court to ensure that the matter is decided once and for all”, he said.
The Chairman added that the issue of voter inducement and buying had been a major concern for the commission, saying voters should be allowed to freely elect their choice as INEC on its part is neutral.
