A protest has unfolded at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office, with a diverse group of demonstrators expressing their outrage over the purportedly manipulated election results from Nembe Bassambiri.
Prominent civil society leaders, women’s organizations, youth groups, state and National Assembly members, and concerned citizens from the Bayelsa region converged at the INEC office to voice their vehement objections to what they claim is an attempt by top INEC officials to distort the outcome of the Saturday election.
The protest began as early as 9 a.m., as impassioned demonstrators obstructed the busy Swali Road location of the INEC office to implore the commission not to accept the contested results from Nembe Bassambiri, which they allege were fabricated.
Bayelsa State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Dambo Biriyai, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made a statement to the press during the protest, asserting that no election had actually taken place in Nembe Bassambiri.
He urged INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr. Obo Effanga, and the South-South Commissioner for INEC, May Agbamuche-Mbu, to uphold fairness by rejecting the alleged counterfeit results.
Furthermore, Mr. Biriyai emphasized that members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) attempting to visit their hometown of Bassambiri were prevented from entering by a combined force of SWAT police and alleged All Progressives Congress (APC) supporters. He went on to allege that the APC had only concocted exaggerated results that had no basis in actual voting.
“If what we are here for is allowed to go on, it would be a massive rape on democracy. We are here because we were disenfranchised in Nembe Bassambiri. And no voting took place there.
“Precisely on the 10th of November, in order to vote for our candidate, about 60 buses left Yenagoa, to Nembe Bassambiri with escort. When we got there, the SWAT team was blocking the entrance with other APC youths.
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“They said we should come down. When one our boys, Barr. Dilli, came down, they manhandled him and he escaped by the whiskers. Thereafter, They started blocking them up to the extent that they threw tear gas at us. They said we cannot come in. So most of us were scared so they had to leave. There were no votes. No election, in Nembe Bassambiri constituency 2 and 3.
“And we now found out that results starts coming it on social media. Results that were uploaded in the BVAS. And you see that these results are the kind of results that are so outrageous.
“We don’t know where they are coming from. So we are here to appeal to INEC. We are not coming to discourage INEC. We just want them to follow the rule of law, ensure that they do what is right in line with Mr President’s resolve that there should be free and fair elections in this country.
“They manipulated everything. INEC should cancel Nembe Bassambiri results because there were no elections there.”