Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State on Friday said that the interest of the international community on Nigeria’s electoral process was legitimate and justified.

Dickson, who spoke in a radio broadcast monitored in Yenagoa, the state capital, said that Nigeria was part of the comity of nations and had played significant roles in the affairs of other nations in promoting democracy.

He said that foreign countries have a role as observers in the peer review role in the workings of the electoral system to ensure that elections were free and fair provided the foreign observers were not partisan.

“There are concerns for safety of voters as well as foreign observers and my view is that we are part and parcel of the international community and the interest of foreign countries in our elections is in order.

“It is however subject to their maintaining neutrality and they are not partisan but actually of more strategic importance is the safety of our voters, for us in Bayelsa State (because) there is a history of electoral violence from 1999 till date.

“The frequent deployment of Police Commissioners is a cause for concern. We have had 10 Commissioners of Police posted here to Bayelsa at the behest of some politicians,” Dickson said.

The Governor also denied allegations by the leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, former Governor Timipre Sylva that the State Government was colluding with the Police to deny other parties of security.

“It is not true. They are the ones doing that because APC is in the control at the federal level, they are merely saying so to divert attention,” he said.

Mr Sylva had on February 4 led APC members on a protest to Police Headquarters in the state over the killing of a party faithful during a rally in Sagbama Local Government Area of the state.

On the delays in the inauguration of the N90 billion International Cargo Airport recently completed by his administration, Dickson explained that the airport was awaiting regulatory approvals and certification from aviation authorities.

“From reports available, we shall soon be through with the regulatory approvals and hopefully, I will be able to take the inaugural flight for the first plane to land at the airport by the end of this February,” he said.

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