The rising protest
against the nullification of the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate David
Lyon’s victory in Bayelsa State took a bad twist on Tuesday, as a coalition of
militant groups under the aegis of the Reformed Niger Delta Avengers (RNDA)
threatened to resume attacks on oil installations in the region if the mandate
is not restored.
The militant group has written a letter to the
Presidency and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko, warning that
failure to reverse the judgment may result in the resumption of hostilities
against oil pipelines, to cripple the economy of the country.
The coalition of
nine militant groups from the nine states of the Niger Delta in the creek, said
though they have accepted ceasefire and have been engaging in peace advocacy in
the region, the recent judgment of the Supreme Court nullifying the election of
David Lyon is unacceptable and provocative, and targeted at alleged perversion
of the civil rights of the people of Bayelsa State who freely gave their
mandate to David Lyon in the governorship election.
Leader of the of RNDA, Major General Johnmark
Ezon Ebi also known as Obama, noted that the decision to abort ceasefire and
declare hostilities in the region was based on the outcome of investigations
which showed that the ruling of the Supreme Court was allegedly procured
through the black market by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The RNDA warned that failure by the Presidency and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, to reverse the ruling will result in an unimaginable outcome, “the RNDA should not be held responsible for whatever damage that will lead to the bombing of oil pipelines to cripple the economy of the country.”
The RNDA stated that by the amended electoral act, which stated that if the winner of the governorship election has been nullified by any means, the electoral body should conduct a fresh election and not swear in the runner-up of the said election because the voters did not vote for the runner-up and as such could not be imposed on the state.
“In the case of Bayelsa State election, David Lyon won with a wide margin of total vote cast across the entire 8 Local government Areas of Bayelsa State.
“David Lyon was declared the winner of the governorship election which was well accepted by all sons and daughters of Bayelsa State.
“He remains the choice of the people. REFORMED NIGER DELTA AVENGERS (RNDA ) will not fold its arms and watch democracy being rubbished in Nigeria.
“The RNDA should
not be held responsible for whatever havoc and colossal damage that will occur
in the creek to cripple the economy of the country, we will show an example
soon. We mean business,” the group warned.