Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has called on political actors in the state to play by the rules, especially now that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has released its timetable for the 2023 general elections.
Diri, represented by his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, stated this while presiding over the 68th State Executive Council meeting at the Executive Chambers in Government House, Yenagoa.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Deputy Governor, Mr. Doubara Atasi, quoted the governor as saying that the Permanent Voter Card, PVC, is the only weapon for electoral victory as against guns and other instruments of coercion.
Reiterating the importance of exercising their civic responsibilities through the PVC, Governor Diri called on youths not to make themselves available as tools for politicians who always use them to perpetrate electoral violence, maintaining that no true politician who wants his people and democracy to develop in the country would resort to the use of violence in the pursuit of his or her political ambition.
He advised youths in the state to realise that those who are always in the habit of encouraging a do-or-die affair during elections will never allow their own children and wards to do same.
“We want to use this opportunity to encourage our politicians especially now that the INEC timetable has been made bare, we should play within the rules because politics is never a do or die affair.We vote with our PVC, that is why it is called civic responsibility. We do not vote with guns. If we were to be voting with guns, then, we would have called it a military operation.
“So we want to encourage everybody to play within the rules of the game and make sure we shun violence in the coming election.We use this opportunity to especially encourage our youths to make themselves unavailable as tools for politicians who will always use them and at the end of the day evaporate and descend to the state only when it is close to elections”, the governor said.
The Bayelsa State chief executive also used the opportunity to once again appreciate Bayelsans for their support towards his administration, reassuring that working together, prosperity could be achieved in all the nooks and crannies of the state.

By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa