Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and civil society groups in Bayelsa state Thursday staged a peaceful protest over the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly elections in some parts of the state.
Comrade Toitoi Newton of the Grassroots For Development (GFD), who led the protest to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Yenagoa, told journalists that the NGOs demand a cancellation of the purported results from constituency 4 in southern Ijaw council and Nembe-Bassambiri in Nembe council where election materials were carted away.
Comrade Newton stated that elections did not hold in the seven wards of Nembe-Bassambiri due to the violence orchestrated by political thugs aided by security personnel deployed to the community.
He said the people were disenfranchised as they were chased away from their communities on the day of the election.
Comrade Stephen Seleke of the Advocacy for Peace (AP) also said anything contrary to the guidelines of the election would not be acceptable to them.
He said the body was not interested in promoting any particular political party in the country but the protest was to register their grievances over the conduct of last Saturday’s elections in the state.
Mr Seleke stated that the entire state and indeed the Niger Delta region was militarised to undermine, frustrate and intimidate voters from exercising their civic responsibilities.
He called for outright rejection of results from areas marred by electoral violence.
Other NGOs under the aegis of Young Nigerians in Politics, Transformed Ladies of Bayelsa and Onward Restoration Movement were also part of the protest.
