INEC reads riot act to politicians in Bayelsa

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned politicians, party supporters and political parties against violence, hijack of elections materials, logistics intervention and sponsoring of political thugs to frustrate the electoral process. The Bayelsa State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Cyril Omorogbe, gave the warning on Tuesday during a press briefing at the INEC headquarters in Yenagoa, the state capital. Omorogbe, said INEC is out to deal decisively not only with miscreants, hoodlums and political thugs but with their sponsors, adding that INEC is ready to drag any desperate politician through the mud if found wanting. On the commission’s logistics preparedness, he noted that so much arrangements have been made with different transport companies and more plans are still ongoing, adding that politicians are not in any way expected to lay hands or alternatively render assistant on logistics. “We don’t expect any politician to lay hands, render assistant or interference with issues of logistics, anyone caught handling materials that is not expected to handle will be arrested, their jobs are not to handle our materials” On PVC’s distribution, he said the commission has distributed 108,520 out of the 295,318 received from the National Secretariat, and have 186,798 uncollected, which forms 40% of the PVC’s. He promised to achieve 90% with the new strategy of ward towards distributions in few days time, adding that training of security and Ad hoc staff has commenced. In his brief, the Administrative Secretary, Mr Lebari Sampson Nduh, assured Bayelsans of the commitment to conduct free, fair, credible and transparent elections in the state, calling on the citizens of the state to owe the process and resist every form of intimidation and rigging. He warned against youths being used as political thugs in formenting violence in the state, adding that they ought to stay clear 3km from Bayelsa state. Akam James, Yenagoa