Politics
Bayelsa Guber: Dickson, Sylva Share Opposing Views
L-R: APC National Auditor, Chief George Moghalu, APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun and Deputy Chairman, Chief Segun Oni, during the National Chairman’s interactive session with journalisist in Abuja on Wednesday.
The incumbent Governor
of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson and candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) lauded the cancellation of the poll in the area while the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governorship candidate Timipre Sylva described as disappointing the cancellation of Sunday’s rescheduled poll in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
Sylva described INEC’s decision as a rape of democracy, stressing that he will not accept the cancellation.
According to him, ”We reject it completely. First and foremost, the Resident Electoral Commissioner has no powers to cancel an election which had duly taken place. It is only the Returning Officer that has powers to announce a cancellation or any other thing relating to an election such as this”.
“We had an election on Saturday. In Ekeremor, there was widespread shooting and they beat up a lot of APC members. The home of the Minister of State for Agriculture was under siege; his house was under fire for a long time. I had to call for re-enforcement before they could subdue the assailants in the morning.
“The assailants retreated and returned again in the evening but elections still held in Ekeremor that same day and returns were made. When APC protested, our protests were set aside and the elections were upheld because of one thing, because PDP won. If the APC had won, of course, the elections would probably have been set aside. They just put the figures together and submitted the figures and our protests died like a candle in the wind.
“In Sagbama, we did not see the electoral materials at all. Thugs besieged the local government. A top APC leader is today lying critically ill in the hospital with a broken arm he sustained running away from assailants. They held elections, of course nobody saw the materials and they just filled out the figures and submitted. The APC protested vehemently. Nobody heard our protests, elections were upheld.
“In Nembe Local Government Area, where the APC won clearly, they quickly cancelled two wards and re-conducted those elections on Sunday. On Sunday, no APC member saw any paper or anything at all relating to that election but votes were returned. We protested, our protests were rejected because the PDP won. If you look through, this election ab initio apparently, was set up for the PDP to win but we didn’t want to shout because we are a responsible party.
The Tide learnt that with the results from seven local government areas so far announced by the electoral umpire, Seriake is being trailed by his All Progressives Congress (APC) challenger, Timipre Sylva.
Dickson scored 105,745 votes against Sylva’s 72,594. The PDP flag bearer, who was leading his closest rival with 35, 154 votes before INEC declared the process inconclusive on Monday, tried to stop the election in the disputed council area, but failed.
The PDP applauded the cancellation of the Southern Ijaw election, which it described as a vindication of its earlier position that the commission erred by going ahead with the poll despite security concerns in the area.
In a statement by the Publicity Director of the Restoration Campaign Organisation, Jonathan Obuebite, the PDP said before the election was conducted, it had informed the electoral body and security authorities that the whole of Southern Ijaw had been taken over by thugs and criminal elements.
Obuebite stated that the PDP was for a free, fair and credible election and as such, election in Southern Ijaw must be conducted in an atmosphere that could guarantee the participation of the people.
He noted that as at 4pm on Sunday, election materials were still being distributed and wondered how such process could lead to a transparent election. He added that it was an orchestrated plan to rig the election as voting went on in the dead of the night.
He said the situation also afforded political thugs to infiltrate the polling units, snatching ballot boxes and intimidating voters under the close supervision of the military operatives.
Obuebite said the whole process was marred by apathy due largely to the wanton violence and mayhem unleashed by thugs and militants. The PDP accused INEC, the police and army of colluding with the APC to rig the election.
He said: “Before now, we knew that the SGF was coordinating the whole rigging plan and we alerted President Muhammadu Buhari and the public.They know they cannot win without rigging through violence and the whole world has seen what happened on Sunday. It was a rape of democracy.
“There was a premeditated effort on a multiple level of conspiracy to rig this election involving INEC, army and the police.
A senator who represented Taraba Central, Mr Abubakar Yusuf, has declared that the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu are not yielding the expected results.
His comment is one of the strongest internal critiques yet from within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The comment underscores the growing dissatisfaction within sections of the ruling party over the direction and impact of the administration’s economic reforms amid rising living costs and fiscal pressures across the country.
Mr Yusuf, who served in the Senate between 2015 and 2023 under the platform of the APC, made the remarks during an appearance on national television.
Responding to a question on whether the administration’s economic direction, often referred to as Tinubunomics, was working, Mr Yusuf answered in the contrary.
“For me, it is not working. I am a member of the APC. I would be the last person to hide the facts”, he said.
He said while the government might be operating diligently within its policy structure, the framework itself is ill-suited to Nigeria’s current realities
“Within the policy framework, yes, they are doing their best, but it is not the framework that is suitable for Nigeria at the point in time that President Asiwaju came into power,” he said.
Mr Yusuf criticised the immediate removal of fuel subsidy on the day the president was sworn in, arguing that the decision lacked sufficient consultation and planning.
“I am one of those who say President Asiwaju ought to have waited. Not on the day he was sworn in to say subsidy is gone. On what basis?”, he asked.
He urged broader engagement before major fiscal decisions are taken.
“Sit down with your cabinet, sit down with your ministers, sit down with your advisers,” he said, dismissing the argument that subsidy removal was justified solely on grounds of corruption.
The former lawmaker identified “structural flaws” in the country’s budgeting system, particularly the envelope budgeting model.
“One of the basic problems is that before you budget, you should have a plan. The envelope system we have been operating has been you budget before you plan. That has been a major issue”, he said.
He argued that allocating spending ceilings without aligning them to concrete development strategies inevitably weakens implementation and delivery.
“If you give me an envelope which is contrary to my plan, whether it is plus or minus, there is no way I am going to implement my plan. It is bound to fail,” he said.
Mr Yusuf called for the scrapping of the envelope budgeting system, noting that he had consistently opposed it even during his years in the National Assembly.
“It is not good for us. It is not going to work well for us,” he said.
He further blamed poor capital releases and persistent deficit financing for undermining budget performance over the years.
“We could not meet 60 percent of our capital budget in all these years. No releases. If you make a budget and the release is very poor, there is no way the budget will be executed”, he stated.
According to him, weak fund disbursement mechanisms and reliance on deficit financing have entrenched a cycle of underperformance.
“Our budget ought to have been a surplus budget, but all our budgets have always been deficit financing budgets,” Mr Yusuf added.
The Nigerian House of Representatives has resolved to reconvene for an emergency session tomorrow February 17, 2026, to deliberate on issues arising from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) release of the timetable for the 2027 general elections.
The decision was disclosed in a statement issued by the House Spokesman, Rep. Akin Rotimi, who described the electoral body’s announcement as one of “constitutional and national significance.”
INEC had fixed February 20, 2027, for the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
According to the statement, members of the Green Chamber were notified of the emergency sitting through an internal memorandum from the Speaker’s office.
The session is expected to focus on legislative matters connected to the newly released timetable, reflecting the House’s resolve to act promptly on issues affecting the nation’s democratic process.
Rep. Rotimi noted that all related businesses would be treated with urgency and urged lawmakers to prioritise attendance in view of the importance of the deliberations.
INEC had on Friday formally unveiled the comprehensive schedule for the 2027 polls, including timelines for party primaries slated for July to September 2026, as well as the commencement of Continuous Voter Registration in April 2026.
The development comes amid ongoing consultations and proposed amendments to the Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 general elections.
As the controversy over the transmission of election results continues across the country, the Defence For Human Rights And Democracy (DHRD), a pro democracy organisation in the country, has criticised the National Assembly for not giving express approval to real time transmission of elections results.
To this end, the group is calling on all civil society organisations in the country to mobilise and push for a better Electoral Reform in the country.
This was contained in a press statement titled, “Defence For Human Rights and Democracy Demands Real Time Election Transmission of Result”, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt.
The group described the refusal of compulsory real time transmission of result results by the Senate as undemocratic, adding that the situation will give room for election manipulation, rigging and voters apathy.
It said that the provision of mandatory real time transmission of election results would have significant improvement on the nation’s democracy.
According to the statement, “Since the return of democracy in 1999 to date, it is 27 years, so our Democracy has metamorphosed from being nascent and as such significant improvement should have been recorded.
“Defence For Human Rights And Democracy (DHRD), is really disappointed at the National Assembly, especially the upper chamber (Senate) for not approving ‘Real Time Electronic Transmission of Election Result’.
“This undemocratic act of theirs, if not tamed, will give room for election manipulation and rigging’”.
Signed by Comrade Clifford Christopher Solomon on behalf of the organisation, the statement further said, “The Defence For Human Rights and Democracy unequivocally supports real time transmission of election result”, stressing that his group will resist any act by the National Assembly to undermine the nation’s democracy.
“DHRD,unequivocally supports ‘True Democracy’, which is Government of the people, by the people and for the people.
“Therefore, anything that will crash the hope of Nigerians to Freely, Fairly and Transparently elect candidates of their choice in any given election should and will be vehemently resisted because good governance begins with leaders elected through credible process. By so doing, leaders have entered a social contract with the citizens to equitably manage their affairs and abundant resources”, the statement added.
It urged the National Assembly to revisit the issue in order to avoid civil unrest.
According to the DHRD, “To avoid civil unrest,voters apathy, election rigging and manipulation, rather to promote citizens participation, advancing our Democracy and entrenching free, fair, credible and acceptable electoral outcome, the National Assembly should amend the electoral act in a manner that will deepen our democracy and boost citizens confidence.
“On this note, The Defence For Human Rights And Democracy (DHRD), is calling on all other civil society organisations (CSOs) to mobilise, organise and push for a better electoral act amendment by the National Assembly”.
By: John Bibor