By Dapo Akinrefon

THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Youth Network has cautioned against the deployment of the military for electoral purposes during the November 16, 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa State.

The Secretary General of the PDPYN, Comrade James Oputin, alleged that the soldiers had shown bias by their antecedents during previous elections.

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Oputin recalled that gunmen in military uniform shot and killed a Government House Photographer, Mr. Reginald Dei and a PDP Ward leader in Oweikorogha, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area on Election Day on February 23, 2019.

He alleged that soldiers connived with APC thugs to cart away election materials and aided the wildest rigging in Bayelsa history which gave the party its victory in the last senatorial election.

He said that the PDPYN and the Bayelsa people, who have not forgotten the incident and other acts of bias inked to the Army, are indeed wary of the deployment of soldiers.

Oputin advised the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, against the planned use of soldiers for suspicious intent inimical to the credibility of the commission and the electoral process in Bayelsa.

He called on the human rights organization such as the Amnesty International, the Civil Liberty Organisation, the civil society world and the international community to stand in defence of the right of the Bayelsa people to elect their leaders without threat of assassination and molestation.

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Oputin said that INEC “has a responsibility to adhere strictly by the electoral law by allowing the police to lead security provision during the election” adding that “anything short of that would amount to the execution of the plot to subvert the will of the people through electoral manipulation and fraud with the aid of the Army.”

However, Oputin said that “INEC could use the services of the Nigerian Navy to escort election materials as the personnel of the Navy displayed noticeable professionalism and good conduct during the last election.”

Vanguard