Following the cancellation of the election in Southern Ijaw LGA, the All Progressives Congress, APC, had alleged that Francis had claimed on oath that Dickson bribed the REC to the tune of N200 million to compromise the election.
In an interview with the African Independent Television (AIT), however, Francis forcefully denied the claim and denounced such statement credited to him by the APC as pure blackmail against INEC and an attempt to discredit the election.
He said he was shocked to hear that his name was being used in the media for something he knew nothing about, pointing out that he felt embarrassed that such a statement could be fabricated to tarnish his name and that of the electoral body.
‘I want to use this opportunity to state categorically that I never said anything like that as the APC was only playing to the gallery. The statement was totally strange to me and I feel highly embarrassed by it all,” he said.
The Ijaw Youth Congress, IYC, had also, in a statement signed by its Central Zonal Chairman, Bobolaiyefa Owopelei, dismissed the allegation as a figment of the imagination of the enemies of democracy and the Ijaw nation.
Following the rebuttal of the APC allegation by Francis, Owopelei reiterated his conviction that the state REC, Baritor Kpagir, could not be bribed because of his stance on integrity, adding that APC’s allegation was only a political stunt to discredit INEC having failed in their desperate bid to bribe the REC and compromise him and the election.
The group said in a statement that APC was bent on destroying the REC for refusing to be bribed.
“Immediately the REC granted an interview that an interested party in the election reached out to him to be bribed to compromise the election, the APC reacted negatively by sponsoring media war on the REC with the intention to embarrass and discredit him but the public can see beyond such antics’, he stated.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that the APC governorship candidate, Timipre Sylva, has perfected plans to rig the rerun election in Ammasoma, Southern Ijaw, a place considered to be the stronghold of the PDP, being the hometown of the late former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha.
Ammasoma is said to boast of three wards with over 35,000 PVC card-carrying voters.
It was gathered that youths in the area have called on security agencies in the state to stop Sylva from taking refuge in the community, saying that “his presence will disrupt the peace of Ammasoma”.
According to reliable sources, Sylva had been secretly spending the night in Ammasoma in the last three days and has even allegedly finalised plans to relocate to Ammasoma on the eve of the rerun election on Friday and will be there all through the period of the election on Saturday.
“He hopes to call the shots from there all through the election on Saturday. Already youths in Ammasoma are planning to stage a protest to stop Sylva from taking refuge in the town for fear of creating tension and violence during the period of the election”, a credible source hinted.
