Military denies allegations of rigging

The Director of Defence Information, Col. Rabe Abubakar, has denied allegations that its men tried to rig the just concluded Bayelsa governorship election.

This is coming on the heels of the allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the military tried to help the All Progressives Congress (APC) win elections.

According to Punch Newspapers, Abubakar said “I don’t want to take issues with political leaders; everybody has the right to whatever he would say but the point is clear that the military, going by our code of conduct in elections, our duty is just to provide security.”

Adding that “Our duty is to complement the efforts of other security agencies to protect and secure lives and property. We are to augment the security provided by other security agencies, whose duty it is to provide (security there). Our duty was purely to ensure that the kind of security breaches (you mentioned) did not happen in any way.

“This is a democracy and democracy has principles. If there is that kind of thing, I believe that our nation and everybody must be party to ensure that we do things right and if there is any way you think that was not done, I think it is appropriate to talk to the authorities.”

The leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF), Mujahid Asari-Dokubo has warned the Federal Government not to interfere with the upcoming supplementary governorship elections in Bayelsa state.