Observer groups allege irregularities in Bayelsa gov poll

A coalition of civil society groups under the aegis of Project Swift Count on Monday decried the number of irregularities recorded during Saturday’s governorship election in Bayelsa State.

The group noted that although the number of the incidents created great concern, it did not significantly alter the outcome of the election.

It, however, said the incidents were considered serious enough to undermine the integrity of the entire process.

Mr. Benjamin James, who presented the group’s report at a press conference, in Abuja said, “A total of 63 critical incident reports were received from all mobile and stationary observers deployed by Project Swift Count in Bayelsa State.

“These incidents are considered serious and could undermine the integrity of the overall process.”

He also noted that there was significant concern about voter turnout in the state.

According to him, overall, PSC estimated the turnout for Bayelsa at 71.4 per cent as compared to 37.5 for Adamawa and 35.1 per cent for Kogi states respectively.

James said, “This unusually high voter turnout may have resulted from a number of factors including inaccurate voter registers, inaccurate voting data reported at polling units, or voters not being required to remain at their polling unit after accreditation and being accredited to vote after the accreditation process had closed, which opens the possibility of multiple voting.”

He added, “These turnout figures do not call into question the outcome of the election as announced by INEC.”

The group equally expressed concern over the decline in INEC official’s response to the critical element of time with respect to accreditation and voting proper.

Meanwhile, a group of observers, under the aegis of Cleen Foundation, on Monday named security concerns and violation of electoral procedures as some of the lapses that affected the governorship election.

The group’s Director of Programmes, Dr. Eban Ebai, blamed the low turnout of voters, especially in Yenagoa, on the high presence of armed security operatives.

The group made its observations known a day after the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Seriake Dickson, was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Ebai, who addressed journalists in Yenagoa on Monday, noted that many armed military personnel stood at various locations in some communities, leading to fear of insecurity and forcing many voters to stay at home.