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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri has chided the national chairman of Labour Party (LP) Mr. Julius Abure over claims that the declared results of last Saturday’s election were manipulated in Bayelsa State Government House Yenagoa.
Mr Abure had in a joint press conference with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Abuja on Tuesday alleged that the presidential and National Assembly elections results were manipulated in the Government House of Bayelsa and two other states.
However Diri in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah dismissed Abure’s claims describing it as false and lacking substance,
Diri exonerated Bayelsa from the LP leader’s claim and advised him to make statements he can substantiate.
According to him, such a comment was thoughtless and capable of undermining the democratic process at a time the country was at a political crossroads.
“As a government, we take strong exceptions to such a thoughtless comment from a party chairman. It is expected of leaders not to make claims they cannot substantiate.
“In Bayelsa, there was no interference of any sort in the electoral process, particularly from our government. The elections were generally peaceful across the state and there were no reported cases of intimidation of voters or the electoral officials.
“I speak specifically about Bayelsa and cannot hold brief for any other state. The Bayelsa Government House is neither a collation centre nor is it a polling unit. It was therefore wrong for the LP chairman to make such a broad claim on national television without concrete proof.”
