Bayelsa rescheduled poll to hold January 9

By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa—The rescheduled governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State  and in some units in the seven other local government areas of the state will now hold on January 9.

Vanguard gathered that the new date was agreed upon at a stakeholders meeting held in Abuja, yesterday.

The meeting, it was learned, resolved that police should play a leading role in the rescheduled poll as against the military dominance during the botched December 6 election in the area.

Also, the distribution of electoral materials is to be decentralized as against the previous practice that provided windows for electoral fraud and violence, which resulted in the alleged death of some persons.

The meeting, which had in attendance, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Chairman, Prof  Mahmood Yakubu, the National Security Adviser, NSA, Major-General Babagana Monguno (retd), the governorship candidates of all the contending political parties and other stakeholders, according to a source privy to it,  deliberated extensively on the incident that led to the cancellation of the election in the affected areas and proffered solutions.