Parties accuse INEC of appointing Dickson’s brother as collation officer

 

                   Political parties in Bayelsa State on Wednesday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of appointing the brother to the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, as a Collation Officer for the April 18 rescheduled elections.
                    The state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Baritor Kpagih, shifted the House of Assembly elections in eight constituencies citing insufficient electoral materials.
But the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the All Progressive Congress (APC) and other parties in Yenagoa said INEC appointed Dickson’s brother and General Manager of the state’s Newspaper Corporation, Mr. Charles Tambo, as a collation officer.                   
They specifically said that Tambo had been directed by INEC to be a collation officer for Kololuma-Opokuma Constituency 1.
Speaking on behalf of other parties, Mr. Preye Ozoro and Mr. Ebire Tarabina, the candidates of APGA for Kolokuma-Opokuma 1 and 2 respectively, alleged that Tambo was appointed to enable the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hijack the results of the election.
The candidates also accused the state government of a plot to arrest them and 15 strong supporters of the opposition parties before the Saturday’s elections.
They named the opposition supporters penciled down for arrest by the government using security agencies as Kwesi Zikiye, Gesiye Isowo, Sylvanus Abila, Inemo Oruebimiekumo, Chamberlin Ikidi and Jackson Suokiri.
Others are Inemotimi Angalapele, Ibarakumo Ikosomi, Pereowei Agura, Victor Vianana, Ebikeme Okoringa, Akpoegberi Ogidiga, Ikuro Igarando and Alex Oruebimiekumo.
They recalled that the government had once arrested persons perceived to be opposed to the PDP and unlawfully detained them for two weeks in Yenagoa and Zone 6, Benin, Edo State.
According to them, the candidates of APC for Kolokuma-Opokuma Constituency 1, Mr. Taripredou Aketi and APGA’s Yenagoa Constituency 1, Mr. Kingdom Blessing, suffered the same fate.
“Emboldened by its operation-arrest- and-detain-our-opponent strategy, the Bayelsa State Government has perfected plans to visit the same fate upon us and our supporters in Kolokuma-Opokuma.
“The Bayelsa State Government also plan to flood Kolokuma-Opokuma on the Election Day with thugs, fake military officers and policemen, essentially to cause violence and bloodbath with a view to generally intimidate our supporters from coming out to vote”, they said.
The candidates appealed to INEC to withdraw Tambo and replace him with a university lecturer no associated with the state government.
They also urged the commission not to release any essential electoral material for Kolokuma-Opokuma to the state government or its agents.
They also appealed to the commission and security agencies to prevailed on the governor not to tour Kolokuma-Opokuma on the election day as it would instigate crisis in the area.
But Kpagih acknowledged receiving a petition written by candidates of APGA over the appointment of Tambo, but said the name had been removed from the list of electoral officers.
“I am barely three months old here. I don’t know anybody. So, when I received the petition, I went to check the list and discovered that Charles Tambo’s name was there. We quickly removed it. So, the name is no longer in the list,” he said.
He advised parties with complaints to approach him instead of dissipating their energy writing petitions.