Delta Polls: APC to Boycott By-election in Two Councils

Still aggrieved over alleged malpractices that trailed last Saturday local government elections, the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) has said it will boycott the rescheduled by-elections slated for today, demanding that all results from previous elections be cancelled.

The Chairman of the party in the state, Jones Erue, who announced the decision of the party to stay out of the by-elections, reiterated the party’s earlier position that the ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) connived with the state Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) to muddle up the process in order to deprive the electorate their right to a free and fair election.

Erue however, promised that the party would always be ready to participate in any election, across the 25 council areas of the state, when it is sure that the process would be free, fair and credible, demanding that the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, and the DSIEC give Delta people a real election.

In the event that the DSIEC goes on to ignore the demands of the party, Erue said it would take all legal steps to ensure that all wrongs were righted.

He debunked insinuations that the APC was divided over the steps taken, saying he had the blessings of all the critical stakeholders of the party.

“For the record, I want to reiterate that the elections purportedly organised by the Okowa-led PDP government in the entire state was a fraud. The Okowa government rigged his own election by confiscating all sensitive election materials including result sheets and then resorted to writing all the results and handing same to DSIEC to announce.

“In the attempt by the APC to insist on all materials including result sheets be provided to allow a free and fair election, the PDP resorted to violence that was witnessed throughout the 25 local governments areas of the state. In summary no elections took place anywhere in Delta State.

“We demanded and still demand for a total cancellation of the sham elections in all the 25 local government areas in Delta State. To purportedly direct for a re-run in only two local government areas, Ughelli North and Ethiope East, is a subterfuge for the validation and authentication of the sham elections in the other 23 local government areas.

“In the circumstances, we therefore state as follows: APC Delta State is and has always been prepared for the local government areas elections. We condemn the grotesque and brazen sabotage of the will of the people of Delta State in the so-called election that Okowa and his lackeys in DSIEC organised last Saturday, January 6, 2018 in Delta State.

“We demand for the cancellation of the sham elections in all the 25 local government areas in Delta State and not only in Ughelli North and Ethiope East. We demand that Okowa and his DSIEC guarantee a free and fair election in a re-run that will take place in all the 25 local government areas of the state.

“We will therefore not participate in the elections in the two local government areas fixed for today.

For the avoidance of doubt, we are prepared, willing, and ready to participate in any free and fair election in all the 25 local government areas as the people of Delta State are ready to throw out the corrupt PDP government from the state, starting with the local government area elections,” Erue said.