Baritor Kpagih, the Bayelsa state Resident Electoral
Commissioner (REC) has disclosed that he was offered
money by some people to rig the December 5 governorship
election in favour of their candidate.
According to him, his refusal to collect their bribe and help
them made him their enemy and they started persecuting
him and spreading all sorts of false stories about him.
From Left: REC Baritor Kpagih; Returning Officer Prof.
Zana Akpagu and Administrative Secretary, Inec Bayelsa
state, Dr Richard Ntui, during the collationoOf Bayelsa
governorship election results.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Kpagih said since
the cancellation of the polls in the Southern Ijaw local
government area, he has been receiving threats to his life.
He said: “I believe it was those who had tried to bribe me
before to help them rig the election that are now behind
all sorts of stories, being bandied around about me. My
refusal had infuriated them and they started by saying I
was missing and that I have gone underground and all
sorts of stories. People should not take election as a do-
or-die affair. I told them, I can’t help them to rig the
election and that they should use the money they wanted
to bribe me with to go to the grassroots and canvass for
the people’s votes.
“Somebody called me on the phone and threatened me and
since then, I have been receiving all sorts of threats.
These have come through text messages and others. Just
on Thursday, two strange people visited my house in
Yenagoa. They refused to identify themselves but told my
people that they had an appointment with me and I knew
for a fact that I didn’t have any appointment with anybody
that day.”
Kpagih said the threats to his life had become more
frequent in the last few days and he has been advised by
his friends to stay away from Bayelsa state because his
safety cannot be guaranteed.
The REC denied having a personal relationship with former
President Goodluck Jonathan, saying they were never
course mates and he joined the Customs Service a few
years after Jonathan had left the service.
“The first time I met him (Jonathan) was when he was the
vice president and we never had any close relationship. I
was retired prematurely, seven years before the mandatory
year. If he was my close friend and he was the vice
president, wouldn’t he have helped me to stay in service ?”
he queried.
Speaking on the violence that marred the election, Kpagih
said: “What keeps baffling me is the fact that up till now,
nobody is talking about the arms and ammunition that
were used to wreak violence on the people. Nobody is
looking into how the arms got into Southern Ijaw and who
brought them into the area. They were freely deployed into
the communities and nobody is talking about those
things .”
He advised that people look into the root causes of the
violence rather than playing the blame game.
Kpagih warned that election should not be seen as a do-
or-die affair, but rather, as a call to service.
The Bayelsa governorship election was marred by large-
scale violence across the state in which five people
reportedly lost their lives in Nembe, Southern Ijaw and
Brass local government areas, while scores sustained
various degrees of injuries. The election was declared
inconclusive by INEC as it was cancelled in the Southern
Ijaw area.
Day after the cancellation, Kpagih went into hiding.
Sources said he decided to go underground following
threats to his life by some persons, who are not
comfortable with the cancellation of the Southern Ijaw
local government election that has rendered the whole
election inconclusive.
Commissioner (REC) has disclosed that he was offered
money by some people to rig the December 5 governorship
election in favour of their candidate.
According to him, his refusal to collect their bribe and help
them made him their enemy and they started persecuting
him and spreading all sorts of false stories about him.
From Left: REC Baritor Kpagih; Returning Officer Prof.
Zana Akpagu and Administrative Secretary, Inec Bayelsa
state, Dr Richard Ntui, during the collationoOf Bayelsa
governorship election results.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Kpagih said since
the cancellation of the polls in the Southern Ijaw local
government area, he has been receiving threats to his life.
He said: “I believe it was those who had tried to bribe me
before to help them rig the election that are now behind
all sorts of stories, being bandied around about me. My
refusal had infuriated them and they started by saying I
was missing and that I have gone underground and all
sorts of stories. People should not take election as a do-
or-die affair. I told them, I can’t help them to rig the
election and that they should use the money they wanted
to bribe me with to go to the grassroots and canvass for
the people’s votes.
“Somebody called me on the phone and threatened me and
since then, I have been receiving all sorts of threats.
These have come through text messages and others. Just
on Thursday, two strange people visited my house in
Yenagoa. They refused to identify themselves but told my
people that they had an appointment with me and I knew
for a fact that I didn’t have any appointment with anybody
that day.”
Kpagih said the threats to his life had become more
frequent in the last few days and he has been advised by
his friends to stay away from Bayelsa state because his
safety cannot be guaranteed.
The REC denied having a personal relationship with former
President Goodluck Jonathan, saying they were never
course mates and he joined the Customs Service a few
years after Jonathan had left the service.
“The first time I met him (Jonathan) was when he was the
vice president and we never had any close relationship. I
was retired prematurely, seven years before the mandatory
year. If he was my close friend and he was the vice
president, wouldn’t he have helped me to stay in service ?”
he queried.
Speaking on the violence that marred the election, Kpagih
said: “What keeps baffling me is the fact that up till now,
nobody is talking about the arms and ammunition that
were used to wreak violence on the people. Nobody is
looking into how the arms got into Southern Ijaw and who
brought them into the area. They were freely deployed into
the communities and nobody is talking about those
things .”
He advised that people look into the root causes of the
violence rather than playing the blame game.
Kpagih warned that election should not be seen as a do-
or-die affair, but rather, as a call to service.
The Bayelsa governorship election was marred by large-
scale violence across the state in which five people
reportedly lost their lives in Nembe, Southern Ijaw and
Brass local government areas, while scores sustained
various degrees of injuries. The election was declared
inconclusive by INEC as it was cancelled in the Southern
Ijaw area.
Day after the cancellation, Kpagih went into hiding.
Sources said he decided to go underground following
threats to his life by some persons, who are not
comfortable with the cancellation of the Southern Ijaw
local government election that has rendered the whole
election inconclusive.