POLICE IN BAYELSA QUIZ LOKPOBIRI
Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has been quizzed by the Bayelsa Police Command, 48 hours after he was summoned and questioned by the State Security Service (SSS) over the conduct of the National Assembly elections in Bayelsa West Senatorial District.
The Labour Party (LP) had alleged that Lokpobiri colluded with officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to hijack electoral materials to his house.
Lokpobiri, while addressing a press conference to defend himself, dismissed the claims of the LP, stressing that 'the reports of ballot boxes, papers and election materials being hijacked by me were lies peddled by the opposition to slur the elections and justify their loss at the polls.'
Lokpobiri was said to have been invited on Tuesday to provide answers to allegations contained in the petition against him.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aderenle Shinaba who confirmed the invitation of Lokpobiri in an interview in his office said the allegations against him were too grave for the police to ignore.
According to him, the police in its bid to demonstrate its neutrality needed to talk to him to hear his own side of the story in the spirit of fairness.
Shinaba also disclosed that 15 people who were arrested during the National Assembly elections were in the custody of the state Central Intelligence Department (CID). He said three people were arrested in Ekeremor Local Government Area, while 12 boys were arrested inside a bus parked close to the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Yenagoa.
On the case of the 23 ballot boxes which the commission said were snatched in Bayelsa State, Shinaba said the Police Command received calls from people on the incident during the elections, noting, however, that INEC in Bayelsa had not briefed the command about the incident. Meanwhile, Senator Lokpobiri has explained that he is not bothered about his invitation to the Bayelsa State Police Command as he has nothing to hide.
Speaking with Daily Sun in Yenagoa, he said he had honoured the invitation and had left the place.
'Yes they invited me and I went there and I am back,' he said. On the controversy raging on the result of the Bayelsa West Senatorial District, he maintained that having been returned elected to the Senate he would not allow his mandate to be snatched away through illegal means.
According to him, any issue bordering on the result released by the returning officer for Bayelsa West Senatorial District could only be entertained by the Election Tribunal and not INEC. 'It should be noted that in line with Section 68 of the Electoral Act, when an election result has been announced by a returning officer, only the tribunal can reverse it.
'If INEC attempts to take any action against the result declared, then I would go to court. INEC must be bound by the laws. The Electoral Act is the bible for the elections. Section 68 is very clear on this; anything contrary to this is illegal. Such pronouncement is null and void and unconstitutional,' he said.