Bayelsa: We Have Already Deployed Election Materials, But Legitimate Court Orders Will Be Obeyed – INEC

• Okoye said INEC would do what it has always done in circumstances like.
• Judgement won’t halt INEC’s plans ahead of Saturday’s poll.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will obey all legitimate court orders served on it concerning the Bayelsa state governorship election.

According to the electoral body, this will not halt its plans ahead of Saturday’s poll. This was stated by the INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, in a telephone chat with The Nation in Abuja on Thursday, said the commission had all need for the elections had been deployed, adding election will go on as planned.

iDONSABI reported that a Federal High Court, sitting in Yenagoa, in a case filed by one of the governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Heineken Lokpobiri, had on Thursday nullified the APC governorship primary, which produced David Lyon.

READ: Bayelsa: Appeal Court Rules in Favour of APC Candidate David Lyon

Although, this had generated some form of confusion over the state of the election just three days away in Bayelsa state, but an appeal was filed for a stay of execution and it was granted.

Justice Jane Inyang in her ruling restrained the INEC from including Lyon in the election.

Speaking with The Nation on how the commission will go about it, Okoye said INEC would do what it has always done in circumstances like this by obeying legitimate court orders. But it will still go ahead with its plans for the election, using the materials already prepared before the judgment was given.

READ: Bayelsa Governorship Poll: Court Stops APC from Contesting

“I will tell you just two things. The first thing is that the election on Saturday will go on, and the second thing is that we are going to obey all legitimate court orders served on us. The election will go on, the ballot papers have been printed and the ballot papers are being deployed.

“Security forces are being deployed, INEC staff are being deployed and we are set for the conduct of this election. If there’s any court order in relation to what we are doing, we will obey all court orders because that has been the tradition of the commission; to obey all legitimate court orders,” he said.