Bayelsa Poll: There Will Be Crisis If You Transmit Results Manually – Ijaw Youths Warn INEC

Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), an umbrella body for all Ijaw youths, has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against adopting manual transmission of November 11 Bayelsa state governorship election results.

The President of the Council, Theophilus Alaye, gave the warning while reacting to a recent report credited to Bayelsa state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Ofiong Effanga.

He urged INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to call Bayelsa REC to order.

Alaye argued that adopting manual collation of results will worsen the integrity of the commission in the conduct of the forthcoming off-season governorship elections.

The IYC president also wondered why the REC was desperate to adopt manual collation of results even when there were no challenges recorded in Bayelsa state during the last presidential, National and State House of Assembly elections.

The group said, “We enjoin the INEC chairman to prevail on Bayelsa state REC to ensure that the Bayelsa November governorship election is conducted in line with the Electoral Guidelines by adopting the mode of electronic transmission of results.

“The INEC Chairman should understand that manual transmission of results in the Bayelsa governorship election will confirm the suspicion by many people that he has a brief to work for a political party which will plunge the state into avoidable crisis.

“You know Bayelsa state, over time, has experienced and recorded a high level of violence except for the last presidential and State House of Assembly election, which was as a result of the application of the BVAS and electronic transmission of results from the polling units. Hence it is the prayers of IYC to see a violence-free election in Bayelsa State.”