Nigeria: No Election In Bayelsa - Kime Engozu

Mr Kime Engozu, founder of the Egbesu Assembly in Nigeria's Bayelsa State, an oil-producing state, claimed in an interview the April 14 governorship election in the state was a charade and should be re-conducted and supervised by an agency that is more independent than the country's electoral authority, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) . He spoke to some journalists in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, among whom was AKANIMO SAMPSON, our Port Harcourt Bureau Chief.

The April 14 governorship poll in Bayelsa state was marred with outright rigging and thuggery, how will you assess the conduct of the election in the state?

I don’t belong to any party, but there was nothing like election in the state on Saturday, April 14. No single community had electoral materials for the election. There was no election in Yenagoa, Sagbama, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia and many others. So the declaration of anybody as the winner of that fraudulent exercise means that INEC should be held responsible for the aftermath of what will happen in the state hereafter. Bayelsans should be given the opportunity to elect the type of leader they want. Some kind of manipulation most have taken place in the so-called election. It was heavily rigged. As an independent monitor that day, I can tell you categorically that there was nothing like election in Bayelsa. There is no way Bayelsa State problems could be solved with this type of arrangement in the name of election. First, the so-called PDP candidate in the state (Timipre Silva) was imposed on the people. He was not the choice of Bayelsans. I don’t know what PDP is afraid of. They have everything to win the election, why then can’t they ensure a free and fair election for Nigerians to make their choice! The problem in the state can not be remedied by this kind of process. Besides, the Bayelsa people have lost confidence in the ruling party and its leadership. The PDP candidate in Bayelsa State is not accepted by the people. Silva can not deliver the Ijaw people.

So much money was said to have been spent by the PDP for the emergence of Timipre Silva, how much do you know was involved here?

I don’t know what was given to who. But we know this young man spent millions of dollars to get this far. Of course, his political father, Edmund Dakouro traded oil blocs to also help him out. A lot of money has gone the drawn pipe for this purpose to the detriment of Bayelsans. We even heard that some years ago, this young man (Silva) was planning to go to Kano with somebody to print money for this election. He is ready to do anything to make money. Nobody knows the Young man’s source of wealth. If we have to move forward,there is a need to stop all these things from happening. This is by doing the right thing at the right time. I have refused to talk since, because the governor (Goodluck Jonathan) is my friend, but we can not allow that friendship to affect the Ijaw struggle. People are now afraid to talk because they are afraid that if they talk they will be killed. The point is very clear here, there was no election in Bayelsa. And for INEC to declare a winner in an election that was not conducted, we will take the commission to court. We want to see the different papers that people thump printed.

What then do you think is the way out of this logjam?

The election has to be nullified. And PDP must ensure that they replace this so called Timipre Silva with a more credible candidate that will be acceptable by the people. Bayelsans don’t want this man, he was imposed on us. Not just that, elections were never conducted, so why declared him the winner?

You are known to be the friend of Jonathan’s government, why the sudden change now when you know that even the Silva you are condemning was the governor’s choice?

I have been Jonathan’s friend actually but as I said before when it comes to Ijaw matter, we must keep that friendship aside. Remember that DSP Alamieyeseigha is my blood brother, but I was against Alamieyesieha on principle. I will never forgive him. I actually wanted to forgive him until he went and put a nonentity as a candidate. If the man had won the election, we would have gone back to the deepest state of despair. Alamieyesiegha is evil. If Jonathan is behind this Silva matter, then he is also evil. Anybody that does not want the Ijaw people to progress is an evil person. If Jonathan thinks Silva is the best person to replace him as governor, then he is evil. And we will resist it by any means possible. Ijaws will not forgive him.

What is your assessment of this election bearing in mind the manner at which INEC went about with series of reported lapses?

As far as this election is concerned, INEC has failed Nigerians and not PDP. INEC is responsible for this fraud because it was a bias umpire. I told you there were no election materials in any where in the state. I can tell you authoritatively that no governorship candidate in Bayelsa voted in Saturday April 14 election. Braimbaifa of DPP, Amgbare of AC and many of them did not vote because there were no materials. So if Silva said he voted then he should be asked where he got the materials to vote. In Lagos, all the candidates voted In Adamawa, Katsina and the rest we saw all the candidates voting in the television. In Rivers State it was only Peter Odili and (Celestine) Omehia that voted, other candidates like Tonye Princewill of AC did not vote.

With what you saw last Saturday, April 14,and the April 21 Presidential and National Assembly polls, what do you expect from the in-coming government?

Prof Maurice Iwu can only run his mouth. I thought he was a gentleman until now. Even if he has collected money from the authorities, that money will finish and posterity will be very had on him without pity. Iwu should asked himself the where about of people like Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey who collected money to give power to NPN. Is he still alive. Iwu must have collected a big money to do what he is doing now. However, this bunch of people who the election by fraud will only compound our problems in this country. I expect a rather worse situation because they are the extension of this present corrupt system.

ENDS

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