Kuwekuzi Aigbe
Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has called on politicians in the state to play by the rules, especially now that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has released it’s timetable for the 2023 general elections.
Governor Diri, represented by his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, stated this while presiding over the 68th State Executive Council meeting in Government House, Yenagoa.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Deputy Governor, Mr. Doubara Atasi, quoted the governor as saying that the Permanent Voters Card, PVC, was the only weapon for electoral victory as against guns and other instruments of coercion, The Trumpet gathered.
While reiterating the importance of exercising their civic responsibilities through the PVC, the governor particularly called on youths not to make themselves available as tools for politicians who always use them to perpetrate election violence.
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He maintained that no true politician who wants his people and democracy to develop in the country would resort to the use of violence in the pursuit of his or her political ambition.
Governor Diri, who advised youths in the state to realize that those who encouraging a do-or-die affair during elections, will never allow their own children and wards to do same..
His words ,”We vote with our PVC, that is why it is called civic responsibility. We do not vote with guns. If we were to be voting with guns, then we would have called it a military operation.
“So we want to encourage everybody to play within the rules of the game and make sure we shun violence in the coming election.” He advised youths to avoid being used by politicians for electoral violence and later abandon them to face prosecution.
Senator Diri used the opportunity to appreciate Bayelsans for their support towards his administration, assuring that prosperity could be achieved if they worked diligently with the government in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
