GOVERNOR Douye Diri of Bayelsa State on Thursday reiterated the commitment of his administration to entrenching a culture of voting without intimidation saying elections are about ballots and not bullets.

Diri stated this in a statewide radio broadcast in Yenagoa ahead of the Saturday House of Assembly election.

According to him, citizens must not only be allowed to vote, but their votes must be counted, and their votes must count.

He said: “it is beyond debate that free and fair elections guarantee our best prospects for securing the dignity of our future, the future of our children, and the future of a prosperous, safe and happy nation. You are the custodians of this great promise.

It thus gives me great joy to know that even under the most inclement conditions, you turned out in your numbers to vote. I thank you and salute your resilience, courage, patriotism, and orderly conduct.

“For us in Bayelsa, it was an early referendum on the performance of the three years of our Government of Prosperity. This election offered us a clear choice to move forward together with courage and confidence and endorse the modest accomplishments of this administration.

“Your overwhelming and emphatic vote for all the candidates of the PDP in the last elections is a vote of confidence in the party and the Prosperity Administration. Together, we have sent a unambiguous message that Bayelsa is 100 per cent PDP and PDP is 100 per cent Bayelsa.

“Together, we have sent the clearest message yet to our opponents that the people of Bayelsa appreciate the efforts of the PDP to build a state that will meet the aspirations of all its citizens.

“I urge you to come out in great numbers to demonstrate that same level of commitment and confidence in our House of Assembly candidates on the ballot on March 18, 2023. We cannot afford to be complacent.

“In Bayelsa, we are committed to entrenching a culture of voting without intimidation. Elections are about ballots not bullets. Citizens must not only be allowed to vote, but their votes must be counted, and their votes must count. Thankfully, this was our experience in all the 2,244 polling units in the 105 wards across the eight Local Government Areas of the State where no single incident of death was recorded.”

He thanked the security agencies for sustaining a safe and secure environment for the elections.

The governor also appreciated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for conducting an acceptable election in Bayelsa.

He,however, noted with concern the widespread complaints of irregularities in several places outside the state.

“It is crucial to draw attention to the logistical challenges and significant lapses in the performance of the BVAS machines in which much faith of the Nigerian people for a new paradigm in credible election is anchored.

“The major shift in our electoral process is the use of technology for electronic transmission of results from polling units to eliminate such vulnerabilities as fraudulent adjustment of figures at collation centers, which used to be a major bane of our electoral process. This, unfortunately, has not been adhered to, in the main,” he said