Politics
Bayelsa Election Will Affect Rivers Re-Run Polls – Lekia ….INEC Cannot Afford To Fail – Wolugbom
Inec officials arranging non sensitive materials for the January 9, supplementary election at the Inec headquarters in Yenagoa, yesterday
Tomorrow, January 9, 2016,
supplementary election in Bayelsa State will have grave implications for the yet to be scheduled re-run National and State Assembly polls in Rivers State.
This was the view of Comrade Christian Lekia, President, Niger Delta Coalition Against Violence.
According to Comrade Lekia, the administrative demarcation between Rivers and Bayelsa States has not essentially affected the political and social character and attitude of the peoples of both states, having been together over the years.
“And therefore I believe strongly that whatever the outcome will have grave implications for the forthcoming Rivers re-run elections at the National Assembly and some state constituency levels, he said.
The social crusader therefore charged all stakeholders in the Bayelsa State polls to leave no stone unturned to ensure that the results of the supplementary elections meet globally acceptable standards as they will either inspire hope or despair in the electorate of the sister Rivers State.
“I foresee a situation where getting it right will spell hope for the parliamentary re-run elections coming up in Rivers State. And if we get it wrong, we will entertain a whole lot of fear concerning a violence free polls in Rivers State,” he emphasized.
In his own response, the Rivers State Director of the National Orientation Agency, Mr Oliver Wolugbom says the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, cannot afford to fail in the Bayelsa supplementary governorship election because the electoral body has a lot to prove to Nigerians and the world.
The NOA boss described the Bayelsa election as a test for the new leadership of INEC to redeem itself after a false start with the in conclusive elections in Kogi State in November and then Bayelsa in December last year.
“The electoral body should show to Nigerians that they are prepared for the task ahead”, he insisted, adding that the outcome of the December election in Bayelsa did not inspire confidence that the political umpire was capable of re-enacting the feat it achieved in the 2015 general elections.
Mr Wolugbom however acknowledged that equally important is the role of all other stakeholders in the political process, especially the key political actors and the security agencies.
He advised the security agents to ensure utmost neutrality while calling on the electorate themselves to abide strictly by the rules and regulations guiding the process.
“In fact, I feel led to appeal to politicians to confine themselves to their polling units because that is part of what is causing the problem. This is also important for every persons”, he said, insisting that success in the election is dependent on all the stakeholders committing themselves to playing their roles according to the rules.
Opaka Dokubo
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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