Bayelsa : Tension in Yenagoa as APC supporters protests cancellation of poll in southern ijaw.

Tension, yesterday, heightened in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital as thousands of All Progressives Congress, APC, supporters took to the streets in protest over the cancellation of the rescheduled governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Monday cancelled the governorship election in the volatile Southern Ijaw council.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Baritor Kpagih, who announced the cancellation of the election in the area, said the poll in the area was “substantially” marred by violence, ballot box snatching and taking electoral officers hostage.

Meanwhile, 14 out of the 20 political parties that fielded candidates for the December 5, governorship election in Bayelsa State, said, they stand by the decision of INEC on the cancellation of the Southern Ijaw council election.

State chairman of Independent Democrats, ID, Prince Elemah, who addressed newsmen in Yenagoa, yesterday, condemned what they called “electoral fraud” that characterized the exercise in Southern Ijaw council, noting that INEC personnel and materials were hijacked by hoodlums through the instrumentality of the security operatives to harass and intimidate their party agents and the electorate.

The briefing was attended by the chairmen of Social Democratic Party, SDP; African Democratic Congress, ADC; Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, ACPN; KOWA; Progressives People Alliance, PPA; Peoples Party of Nigeria, PPN; Democratic Peoples’ Party, DPP; Democratic People’s Congress, DPC; African Peoples Alliance, APA; New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP; Mega Progressives Peoples Party, MPPP; United Peoples Congress, UPC; and Peoples Democratic Congress, PDC.

Commending the people of Southern Ijaw council for standing firm to protest the alleged abuse of their civic rights to vote during the election, the parties called on all contestants to respect and accept the decision of the electorate on the election held so far in the seven local government areas and the people’s decision in the Southern Ijaw rescheduled election when INEC eventually fixes a date.

Southern Ijaw council has 120,827 registered voters, the highest in the eight councils of the state.

Government offices were hurriedly closed as tension hightened in the state capital following fears that the protest could turn violent. Though it could not be immediately ascertained, it was gathered that the directive that the government offices within the secretariat complex be closed was verbally issued by the Head of Service, Dr. Peter Singabele.

Vanguard gathered that before the directive was issued, most of the civil servants could not access their offices as the roads leading to the Government House and the state secretariat were cordoned off by armed security operatives.

The protesters who carried placards and sang anti-INEC songs, caused serious gridlock in the town as they marched from the APC secretariat at the Yenezue-Gene suburb of Yenagoa to the office of INEC on Swali Road to register their grievances over the cancellation of Southern Ijaw  election result.

It was the second protest in two days despite the ban on street procession by the police.

Supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, mainly women from Southern Ijaw council, had on Monday staged a peaceful protest close to the INEC collation centre, calling for the cancellation of the election in the council, alleging widespread irregularities.