By Olayinka Ajayi
BAYELSA State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Pastor Monday Udo-Tom, has assured of the determination of the the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct credible governorship election in November.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Vanguard during the commission’s 2019 Post-Election Review meeting with RECs in Lagos, Udo-Tom maintained that INEC is putting all machinery in place to make the governorship election peaceful and acceptable. “Bayelsa State may look like a small state but if you are there, you will realise that is not small. The terrain of Bayelsa has made it a very big state because over 25 percent of that state is riverine therefore our responsibility is somehow very cumbersome. “For the past one month, we have been having series of stakeholders meeting updating them on what we did in the past and what we intend to achieve during the election. And that has given us a great impetus to have the ability to deliver service to the Bayalsa people at a higher level than what happened before.
We are really prepared to do what is right in that election. Procurement of materials, training and employment of Adhoc staff, and deployment shall be well-guided through the rule of the gavel and by the law.” The Electoral Commissioner urged desperate politicians and party members in the state to give peace a chance saying:“ We were able to attend an advocacy for peaceful election in Bayelsa State and the key note speech we delivered focused on participatory election and not war. Therefore, we are not part of any war, we are anchoring the election according to the dictate of the constitution,” Udo-Tom said.
