The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, has warned the Presidency against attempting to rig the December 5, 2015, governorship election in Bayelsa State, stressing that any attempt to do so would amount to re-awaking “a sleeping dog.”
The group called on the United Nations and the international community to be a witness to its warning, insisting that any move to compromise the forthcoming poll will be resisted as it would dispatch 500 of its members to monitor the exercise, particularly in the creeks.
Disclosing this in a statement issued yesterday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by its Acting Chairman, Prince Amaibi Horby (aka General Busta Rhymes) and 12 others, the group expressed its support for Governor Seriake Dickson, who is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
While assuring the incumbent of the backing of Ijaws, MEND explained that Dickson had performed well in executing people-oriented projects.
According to the statement: “We have endorsed Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson for a second term as Bayelsans gear up for December 5, 2015 election. Dickson, over the years, has performed creditably in office as he has driven development to the hinterland.
“The Ijaw people are solidly behind him in this forthcoming election, and we will ask our members to monitor the election in the state, especially in the vast creeks of Bayelsa, where we are deep-rooted to avoid intimidation and possible rigging by the enemies of Ijawland and their Abuja collaborators.
“We wish to admonish President Muhammadu Buhari not to engage election riggers in the governorship election as such vicious and surreptitious antics shall not only be vehemently resisted, but may also lead to waking the sleeping dog from sleep.
“We call on the United Nations and, indeed, the international community to bear us witness as we are not unaware of the planned use of ‘federal might’ to intimidate the people of Bayelsa State in favour of their chosen candidate,” the group said.
MEND noted that the governor is a product of the Ijaw struggle for resource control and self-determination in the Niger Delta, before venturing into active politics, stating that he had contributed immensely to the socio-political and economic development of the Ijaw nation.
“We are mustering total support for him because he is a product of the Ijaw struggle for resource control and self-determination in the Niger Delta. So far, he has contributed immensely to the vast socio-political and economic development of the Ijaw nation,” it stated.
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