By Edighomor Victor, Yenagoa.
A Non-Governmental Organisation in Bayelsa, Coalition for Development and Democracy in Bayelsa CDDB has admonished the major political parties in the state to desist from any plan to use violence or monetary inducement to win the forth-coming gubernatorial election in the state and think of how to convince the electorate to vote for their candidate through the enunciation of their plans and ideas on how to develop the state.
The group also charged security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to put leaders and major foot soldiers of the two major parties under surveillance before, during and after election, to checkmate the deployment of arms, ammunition and thugs before, during and after the elections.
In a press statement made available to Daily Watch on Monday, by the Executive Director of CDDB, Mr Konrad Ekiyor Wilson made the calls in Yenagoa at the end of a voter education exercise against violence, rigging and ballot snatching in communities in the Sagbama Local government area, carried out in partnership with INEC.
He said the voter education exercise took the CDDB team to the three constituencies of the SALGA and visits to Ofoni, Anagalabiri, Toru-Orua, Ogobiri and Ebedebiri Communities.
Other communities visited included Sagbama, Tungbo, Tungbabiri, Angiama, Agbere and Odoni.
The group also preached to the people the need for peaceful and non-violent election in addition to non-selling of votes and voting for credible candidates that would address the development challenges facing the state.
Welson, commended INEC in the state for partnering with NGOs and CSOs in the state in carrying out the voter education exercise in the state. And appealed to political parties and the state government to emulate INEC.
In reaction, voters in all the communities expressed their readiness to come out en masse to vote and condemned all plans of violence while promising not to sell their votes.
