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Rumpus in Bayelsa state assembly

Published

7 years ago

on

September 30, 2019

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Bayelsa State House of Assembly is in disarray as two speakers from within the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerged.

The mace has been taking away by thugs.

The former speaker, Hon. Tonye Isenah, had on Friday afternoon, hinted on his resignation, claiming it was due to pressure mounted on him by some People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leaders to quit his position ahead of the November 16th governorship election.

He was summarily impeached on Monday, and another Speaker, Hon. Monday Obolo, was nominated in his place.

The current Speaker called the house to order Monday morning, and then adjourned the session indefinitely.

Armed groups belonging to the two speakers eventually descended on the chamber, shooting in the air and vandalising furniture before police officers were dispatched to contain the violence.

Isenah insisted his impeachment was illegal.

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Vote-buying remains a major concern One of the strongest warnings from Osun was the continued presence of vote-buying and voter inducement. Yiaga Africa said the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were consistent with its independent statistical projections, but cautioned that this did not remove concerns about the integrity of voters' choices amid reports of vote-buying and inducement. The concern is particularly significant ahead of 2027, when political competition will take place nationwide and involve presidential, National Assembly and state-level contests. The International Republican Institute (IRI), following a pre-election assessment mission conducted in August, identified monetised political competition, election-related violence, insecurity and declining public confidence in INEC among the structural challenges facing the 2027 elections. IRI recommended stronger investigation and prosecution of vote-buying and voter inducement, urging INEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and security agencies to act on credible allegations. Technology improves transparency — but has limits The Osun election also demonstrated how electoral technology can improve transparency. INEC's electronic transmission of polling-unit results through the IReV platform provided observers and members of the public with a mechanism to monitor uploaded results. Yiaga Africa subsequently said the official results were consistent with its independent statistical estimates, describing the outcome as evidence that the announced results reflected the ballots counted at polling units. However, technical problems with BVAS were reported during voting. CDD said difficulties involving biometric verification and slow processing occurred in several LGAs, including Irepodun, Ejigbo, Obokun, Osogbo, Olorunda, Ola Oluwa, Ede North and Ede South. 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