Ahead of the November 11 governorship election in Bayelsa State, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has kicked against the plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results manually.
The President of IYC Worldwide, Theophilus Alaye, stated this in a statement issued on Monday while reacting to a recent press conference organised by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Bayelsa State, Ofiong Efanga on his plan to adopt manual mode of transmission of the governorship election results.
He, therefore, called on the National Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to advise Efanga not to contemplate manual transmission of results in the state.
Alaye said Yakubu should advise the Bayelsa State REC to ensure that Bayelsa governorship election is conducted in line with the electoral guidelines and adopt the mode of electronic transmission of results.
He warned that manual transmission of results would confirm the suspicion of the people and would also plunge the state into an avoidable crisis.
The president recalled that there were no challenges recorded in the state in the last presidential, national, and state house assembly elections as the former (REC) adopted an electronic mode of transmission of results from the polling units — even from the remotest parts of the state.
Alaye was of the opinion that the announcement of use of manual transmission of results by the REC was an indication that the electoral body in the state was preparing the ground to ensure that the votes of the people do not count.
He advised Efanga to note that the failure of INEC to transmit the presidential election results has caused so much uproar in the country, which has made Nigerians doubt the ability of INEC to conduct credible and transparent elections in the country.
“You know Bayelsa State overtime has experienced and recorded a high level of violence except for the last presidential and state house of assembly elections, which were the result of the application of the BVAS and the electronic transmission of results from the pulling units. Hence, it is the prayer of IYC to see violence free elections in Bayelsa State,” Alaye said.
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