Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has condemned the branding of the All Progressive Congress (APC) leaders in Bayelsa State as trouble makers and election riggers by Governor Henry Seriake Dickson.
Dickson had, at a press conference, called on security agents, while carrying out the directive on ballot box snatching, to pay close watch to APC leaders in the state for alleged troublemaking and election rigging in Ekeremor, Nembe and Brass local government areas.
In a swift reaction, yesterday, Lokpobiri said the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led government is the architect of electoral violence in the state. He said it is the PDP-led government in the state that has been appointing ex-militant leaders as council chairmen; in a bid to disrupt the electoral process.
Lokpobiri called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate spending of federal allocations that have accrued to the state since 2012.
He said the same set of people used in perpetrating electoral fraud for the PDP, in the 2015 governorship election, are warming up to carry out the same assignment for the PDP, in the 2019 general election and called on security agencies to beam their searchlight on PDP members in the state; to stop their plans to disrupt February 23 elections.
Lokpobiri urged Bayelsans to ask what the Dickson government has done for their communities, in terms of developmental projects and reject the lies of the PDP while voting for the APC as the federal government has done more for Bayelsa communities in terms of rural development than the PDP government.
“Communities in Bayelsa state are called upon to begin to interrogate the impact and value addition (if any) of the Dickson’s government in their various communities.
“This, no doubt, will expose the governor’s incompetence in office. The security agencies should be on the alert to checkmate the activities of governor Dickson, particularly on political thuggery and violence, vote-buying, ballot-snatching and other political and election malfeasance.
“The people of Bayelsa deserve to be given the opportunity to exercise their franchise at the polls; under a violent-free atmosphere…”