The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged foul play ahead of the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa state.
The ruling party in the state alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has plans to rig the election following the sudden transfers from the state of Bassaleg Al-Hassan, the state director of the Department of State Security (DSS), and Paul Okafor, the state police commissioner, This Day reports.
According to the PDP, the recent transfers of Paul Okafor and Basaleg Al-Hassan from the state are clouded in obscurity.
This was disclosed in a statement by Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, the state chairman of the PDP.
Dokubo-Spiff said: “The actions of the power that be in Abuja over these transfers really beg the issue. They are curious as it clearly gives us the logical feeling to think twice about what could have been the reason for the transfer of the two main security heads in Bayelsa State just about a month to the election.
“We in the PDP believe that this is a calculated move by the APC-led federal government to use the security apparatus in the state to rig the election in favour of its candidate in the December 5 governorship election.
“Since the transfer of these two top flight officers, we have noticed the sudden influx and return of cultists, militants and other undesirable elements into the state that are already attacking and kidnapping innocent Bayelsans. Security bases and posts are also being attacked with arms being carted away to create an arms base for the cultists preparatory to executing plans of rigging the elections.
“Our findings also indicated that the APC was so obsessed with the rigging plan that it will inevitably involve violence and intimidation by various federal agencies, including security personnel to rig the election.
“President Buhari as a beneficiary of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s democratic disposition should as a matter of peace and harmony weep everybody onto line by ensuring transparency and a marked transparency during the election in Bayelsa State. Of course everybody knows Bayelsans will not accept anything less than a credible election, free and fair, one man, one vote.”
However, in a swift response to the allegation, Doifie Buokoribo, the spokesman of the Timipre Sylva campaign organisation, advised Governor Seriake Dickson to face the issues and stop telling “lies” as a campaign strategy.
Buokoribo insisted that such a strategy would fail the Bayelsa PDP governorship candidate at the December 5 election just as it failed the former president Goodluck Jonathan at the last general election.
“We are disturbed that a sitting government desiring re-election has taken to a campaign of calumny, deception, and lies and a sole election strategy. In lie after lie, which we have extensively exposed, they have tried to malign the character of Sylva. But it is clear that Dickson and his co-travelers will fail.
“They will fail in Bayelsa State, as we are all living witnesses to how such campaign of slander and mudslinging fell flat at the federal level, when it was applied by their principal, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, during the last presidential election. This fact is indubitable, and we ordinarily would not have bothered about Dickson and PDP’s mission of self-destruction in Bayelsa State.
“But we need to warn that in this election, we are not in a contest for who would abuse the most, rather it is a contest to improve the lives of the people of Bayelsa.
“What comes out clearly in the current well-funded media campaign against Sylva is that it carries the official stamp of the Dickson administration. The visibly unimaginative and dull anti-Sylva publications have emanated from the Government House, Yenagoa.
“Obviously, the campaign of calumny against Sylva is a deliberate policy of the Dickson administration, his only election plan, because, as we have repeatedly pointed out, he is evidently incompetent and ignorant of any achievements to campaign with.
“In their latest rant, they claimed that Sylva was bankrupt. Well, while Dickson is celebrating that Sylva is bankrupt, we are celebrating Dickson’s imminent defeat.
“But what is this obsession with Sylva’s finances. We thought Dickson’s folks should be preoccupied with rolling out his achievements in government. The people want to see what has been ‘restored’ these four odd years, Sylva himself wrote on his Facebook page Sunday.”
The APC response comes after the Timipre Sylva campaign organization had accused the PDP and its governorship candidate, Governor Seriake Dickson of planning to create mayhem in the state.
The ruling party in the state alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has plans to rig the election following the sudden transfers from the state of Bassaleg Al-Hassan, the state director of the Department of State Security (DSS), and Paul Okafor, the state police commissioner, This Day reports.
According to the PDP, the recent transfers of Paul Okafor and Basaleg Al-Hassan from the state are clouded in obscurity.
This was disclosed in a statement by Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff, the state chairman of the PDP.
Dokubo-Spiff said: “The actions of the power that be in Abuja over these transfers really beg the issue. They are curious as it clearly gives us the logical feeling to think twice about what could have been the reason for the transfer of the two main security heads in Bayelsa State just about a month to the election.
“We in the PDP believe that this is a calculated move by the APC-led federal government to use the security apparatus in the state to rig the election in favour of its candidate in the December 5 governorship election.
“Since the transfer of these two top flight officers, we have noticed the sudden influx and return of cultists, militants and other undesirable elements into the state that are already attacking and kidnapping innocent Bayelsans. Security bases and posts are also being attacked with arms being carted away to create an arms base for the cultists preparatory to executing plans of rigging the elections.
“Our findings also indicated that the APC was so obsessed with the rigging plan that it will inevitably involve violence and intimidation by various federal agencies, including security personnel to rig the election.
“President Buhari as a beneficiary of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s democratic disposition should as a matter of peace and harmony weep everybody onto line by ensuring transparency and a marked transparency during the election in Bayelsa State. Of course everybody knows Bayelsans will not accept anything less than a credible election, free and fair, one man, one vote.”
However, in a swift response to the allegation, Doifie Buokoribo, the spokesman of the Timipre Sylva campaign organisation, advised Governor Seriake Dickson to face the issues and stop telling “lies” as a campaign strategy.
Buokoribo insisted that such a strategy would fail the Bayelsa PDP governorship candidate at the December 5 election just as it failed the former president Goodluck Jonathan at the last general election.
“We are disturbed that a sitting government desiring re-election has taken to a campaign of calumny, deception, and lies and a sole election strategy. In lie after lie, which we have extensively exposed, they have tried to malign the character of Sylva. But it is clear that Dickson and his co-travelers will fail.
“They will fail in Bayelsa State, as we are all living witnesses to how such campaign of slander and mudslinging fell flat at the federal level, when it was applied by their principal, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, during the last presidential election. This fact is indubitable, and we ordinarily would not have bothered about Dickson and PDP’s mission of self-destruction in Bayelsa State.
“But we need to warn that in this election, we are not in a contest for who would abuse the most, rather it is a contest to improve the lives of the people of Bayelsa.
“What comes out clearly in the current well-funded media campaign against Sylva is that it carries the official stamp of the Dickson administration. The visibly unimaginative and dull anti-Sylva publications have emanated from the Government House, Yenagoa.
“Obviously, the campaign of calumny against Sylva is a deliberate policy of the Dickson administration, his only election plan, because, as we have repeatedly pointed out, he is evidently incompetent and ignorant of any achievements to campaign with.
“In their latest rant, they claimed that Sylva was bankrupt. Well, while Dickson is celebrating that Sylva is bankrupt, we are celebrating Dickson’s imminent defeat.
“But what is this obsession with Sylva’s finances. We thought Dickson’s folks should be preoccupied with rolling out his achievements in government. The people want to see what has been ‘restored’ these four odd years, Sylva himself wrote on his Facebook page Sunday.”
The APC response comes after the Timipre Sylva campaign organization had accused the PDP and its governorship candidate, Governor Seriake Dickson of planning to create mayhem in the state.
