A group, Bayelsa Rainbow Coalition for Good Governance (BRCGG) has raised the alarm over plots by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Henry Seriake Dickson to remove the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Bayelsa State, Elder Monday Udom ahead of the election.
But the PDP has described the allegations as a distraction noting that the party which is on ground and with the people of Bayelsa State since 1999 does not need INEC to win the governorship election.
BRCGG in a statement by its coordinator, Fred Joel pointedly accused Governor Dickson of allegedly sponsoring calls for the removal of the REC.
The group said the alleged calls to remove the REC by Governor Dickson is an “unbridled and uncommon desperation” of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state to armtwist and intimidate officials of the commission ahead of the governorship polls.
The group stated that the removal of REC is being sponsored with the sole purpose to ensure the posting of a pliable REC that would be a Yes-man to the PDP leadership in the state and do its bidding.
The statement read in part ”It remains one of the eight wonders of the world that Dickson’s PDP which claims to have a stronghold in Bayelsa has chosen the path of ignominy by restlessly seeking to upend the wishes of the Bayelsa people through manipulation . Mr Dickson has actually realised that in the forthcoming governorship polls; his party can only stand the chance of winning if a REC that can compromise the conduct of the polls is posted to the state”