The Labour Party’s candidate in the recent Bayelsa gubernatorial election, Udengs Eradiri, has rejected the outcome of the poll over alleged irregularities.
Eradiri described the election process as a marketplace where votes were bought and sold.
Speaking at a press conference held in his Yenagoa campaign office on Tuesday, Eradiri said he won’t accept the results that saw Governor Duoye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) re-elected into office.
Diri had polled a total of 175,196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress, who got 110,108 votes while Eradiri came third with 905 votes.
While addressing the press conference, Eradiri condemned the alleged misuse of state resources to manipulate and coerce voters, expressing shock at the level of alleged malpractice witnessed during the election.
He emphasized that vote-buying is a crime against humanity and called on the EFCC to investigate the electoral officers allegedly involved.
“Our state resources were used to intimidate our traumatized people, who have been impoverished by this government. This government deliberately weaponised poverty and forced the people to sell their conscience for money at the polls.
“I consider vote-buying a crime against humanity. I cannot engage in vote buying because it is a demonstration of a lack of performance, unpopularity, incompetence and leadership failure. I have always emphasised its incompetence. I am shocked at the level it took the malfeasance to. The state government has added another record to its bag of incompetent achievements, making the November 11 Bayelsa election the most monetized poll in the history of the country.
“I contested this election to prove a point that this incompetence in Bayelsa can be challenged. I contested to solve the problems of lack of potable water, dearth of infrastructures, ravaging poverty and rot in the educational sector.
“They have to be probed. I wonder why INEC cannot enforce its rules to ensure credible elections in the country. There was intimidation and harassment of voters, violence, bypass of BVAS, among other irregularities, which vitiated whatever results they announced at the collation centre,” he said.
According to Eradiri, he is the rightful winner of the poll based on the valid votes cast.
