Bayelsa guber polls: PDP raises the alarm over voter intimidation, violence in Nembe-Bassambiri

Barely few hours to saturda’s election in Bayelsa state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa state has alerted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the deliberate attempt to prevent its members and supporters from voting in Bassambiri community in Nembe Local Government Area of the state. 

The party in a statement issued on Friday night by its Publicity Secretary, Ebiye Ogoli, said thugs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in cahoots with the police Strategic Weapons and Tactical (SWAT) team deployed in the community by the Inspector General of Police, have prevented its members and supporters earlier chased out of the community from returning home.

The PDP said with the APC, having gone into a panic mode, on Friday prevented its returning members from entering their community with the aid of the police who fired gunshots.

“The PDP hereby puts INEC on notice that if its members are disenfranchised in Bassambiri or any other community on account of being prevented from entering their hometown, election results emanating from such communities will not be acceptable to the party,” it said.

It wondered why the APC in the state resorted to scaremongering and violence in Bassambiri, like it in the 2019 governorship election, after signing the Peace Accord on Wednesday.

The PDP reminded the opposition party that election is not war but that it is a contest of votes and not the contest of bullets.