On August 5, 2019 the immediate past Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for Cross River State, Dr. Frankland Briyai, made public his desire to contest in the upcoming governorship election in November this year in Bayelsa State.
Quite shockingly, the long rumour of his ambition/interest came shore, for the first time Briyai made this declaration publicly… he chose the premises of INEC, an organization that he served, and knows too well that it should be apolitical in all ramifications to declare his intention/ambition.
For someone who should understand the sacredness of the ground he stood on as far as political neutrality is concerned, the development raises a lot of questions, just as his attitude and activities since he assumed office as REC in the state until his controversial exit from the Commission.
While it is the right of every Nigerian to run for any elective office, it would not be farfetched to think that this particular situation demands scrutiny.
For someone who came to Cross River as REC with practically nothing, declaring to run for a governorship election in a state such as Bayelsa, barely after controversially stepping out of office, just makes one wonder. We all know how capital intensive running a governorship election in Nigeria is, hence the attention this case demands.
I call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to look into this matter, and investigate the activities of the former REC, with a view to know whether he corruptly enriched himself financially to the extent of having the confidence to desire to contest the governorship given the huge financial implication of running for such office.
Briyai is a man whose nefarious activities as REC in the state is well-known, receiving huge bribes from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in the state to the detriment of other political parties. The call by the National Chairman of PDP for an investigation of Dr Briyai is a trick to protect/cover up the former Rec from persecution. His claim is fake and misleading. Dr Briyai is not a member of APC…Let the APC be wise to avoid this character..
Now he is telling the world that his people are putting pressure on him to run, hence his declaration of intention (at INEC office Calabar) to pursue his ambition on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
His announcement to run on the platform of the APC is just a cover to hide his atrocious activities with the PDP, and to hide the ill gotten wealth he made as REC in Cross River State.
This is the same man that excluded APC candidates from the last general elections in the state, in his bid to carry out the hatchet job for his paymasters in PDP.
Apparently, he was well paid for his troubles!
How can a man who came to head INEC in the state refuse staffs who were eminently qualified to conduct the elections, but rather used junior staff over their seniors to perpetuate criminality in the name of elections?
Briyai destroyed Cross River State because of his seeming insatiable love for money. How can Briyai as REC announce/declare results where a voting population of a federal Constituency of Obubra/Etung with over a hundred and fifty thousand voters, (150,000) declared a PDP member who scored less than 9,000 votes a winner!! Yet Elections did not hold in Etung LGA at all.
What corrupt public officer he was..
Briyai on the eve of the February elections announced to the world via a broadcast the exclusion of ALL APC candidates in CRS, relying on to a High Court Order, yet the same respecter of the Law (Court Order) went ahead to disregard/disrespect the same Court Order by declaring an APC member for Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency winner of the Election, when the Court Order stated clearly All APC members for SENATE, HOUSE OF REPS, GOVERNORSHIP AND HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
It goes to show how partial and criminaly minded he (Briyai was, he showed clearly his playing a PDP script in frustrating the APC. He was a paid gent in Cross River State.
I would like to ask Briyai, were his people where all this while that they did not come out to put pressure on him to represent them? Did they just realize his existence recently??
I wish to call on the APC to reject Briyai, he is a cancer positioned to infect, and destroy the party APC, , if given the opportunity to have his way. He is planted only to destroy the APC, he has no plans to run any election.
Briyai is a bad product that cannot be marketed. The APC should not give such a person its ticket.
He is not a member of APC. Never in history of Nigeria has a REC used the facility of INEC to declare his or her political ambitions, so the APC should not compromise it’s integrity or allow itself to associate with such an obviously dubious character. This is a clarion call.
Akpama, wrote in from Calabar, Cross River State.
