Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has said that BVAS machines were bypassed in some areas during the November 11 governorship election in the state.
Diri, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election, defeated his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and was declared winner of the election by INEC.
“I believe that the electoral umpire has done well with all of these challenges. I believe that is one of the best elections they have ever conducted where the BVAS has been brought into full test.
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“We have seen areas where BVAS were bypassed and everybody scored zero, for example areas where fake results were brought in and the BVAS not used.
“I believe that INEC has done so well in terms of materials movement to the rural areas. They did it a day before the election. My take is that we should score INEC high in terms of the conduct of this election in Bayelsa State,” Diri said during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
The governor stated that he had extended a hand of friendship to his opponents in the contest.
“It’s about Bayelsa and our people,” he added.