The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won all the 25 local government chairmanship seats in the Delta Local Government election held across the State on Saturday.
The party also clinched 499 of the 500 councillorship seats, losing one to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Oshimili North Local Government Area (LGA).
Dr Jerry Agbaike, the Chief Electoral Officer and Chairman, Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC), announced the results at the commission’s headquarters in Asaba on Sunday.
Agbaike said election was, however, not held in Udu LGA as the PDP chairmanship candidate was returned unopposed.
The DSIEC chairman also issued Certificates of Return to the elected LG chairmen to mark the end of the exercise.
Recall that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta and other PDP chiefs had earlier predicted victory for the candidates of the party.
After casting his vote on Saturday, Oborevwori said he was confident of victory in the election he described as transparent, free and fair.
The Governor also expressed support for the LG autonomy, claiming he did not, for this reason, constitute caretaker committees at the end of the tenure of the immediate past chairmen.
“The Supreme Court judgment has no effect here in Delta State because we don’t tamper with local government funds.
“As a former speaker, we were at the forefront of the issue of autonomy for the legislature and the judiciary. So, that judgment does not affect us here in Delta State.
“In the past, the state government cleared monies owed by local governments in the state.
“The Joint Accounts Allocation Committee (JAAC) is just a monitoring process to ensure transparency,” Oborevwori said.
Delta LG Election: TAF Africa lauds DSIEC, security agencies
Meanwhile, TAF Africa, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has lauded the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) for ensuring inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Saturday, July 13, local government election.
The organisation also lauded security agencies for visibility in all the wards and polling units across the 25 local government areas of the state.
Jake Epelle, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, gave the commendation on Sunday in Asaba at a news conference while
giving final report on the Saturday election.
He said DSIEC adopted the lessons learnt from TAF Africa on how to ensure inclusiveness of PWDs in its electoral process.
He added that the foundation deployed a team to observe the election closely, saying DSIEC made exceptional efforts in ensuring a more inclusive and secured election environment.
He noted that “we observed that adequate security was provided in all polling units visited and notably, no violence was recorded throughout the election.
“This ensured peaceful and orderly process, allowing voters to exercise their rights without fear.”
Epelle, however, noted that there was low voter turnout owing to voter apathy occasioned by experiences from previous elections.
He also said that some voters were disenfranchised due to creation of new polling units without adequate sensitisation of the electorate.
The organisation urged DSIEC to investigate why elections could not hold in Koko 11, units 1,2 and 3 in Warri North Local GovernmentArea.
The foundation’s Programmes Manager, Mr Adeolu Kilanko, said “voter apathy can pose significant threat to democratic system.”
According to him, the low voters turnout in the election reflects a trend of disenchantment among the electorate.
‘For PWDs, the impact is even more pronounced. Voter apathy can lead to their voices being further marginalised.”
Also, the TAF Africa Senior Communication Manager, Ms Lynn Agwuocha, also lauded DSIEC for its stride toward an inclusive electoral process.
Agwuocha reiterated the foundation’s commitment to continue to advocate for the rights and inclusion of PWDs and work toward a more inclusive and participatory democratic process in the country.
Delta LG polls a complete sham, falls short of democratic standard – Dafinone
Nevertheless, the senator representing Delta Central Senatoral District, Senator Ede Dafinone has described the Delta state local council elections held on Saturday, July 13 as a complete shame and a mockery of democratic ideals and standard.
Senator Dafinone spoke on the growing concern across the country on how the sitting state governors uses the State Independent Electorial Commission DSIEC to undermine the growth and development of the electoral system at the local government level.
The Delta Central lawmaker while reacting to the outcome of the council polls held in Delta state said that it’s very unfortunate that people at the grassroot level are prevented from participating in our democratic process by state governors to freely elect their councillors and council chairman.
Senator Dafinone while applauding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for supporting the financial autonomy for the local governments across the country with the recent Supreme Court landmark judgement, noted that Nigerians of goodwill must collectively work to amend the relevant sections of the constitution to rescue the local government system from the iron-fist of the state Governors.
He added that the main opposition in the state, the All Progressives Congress sensed that the electoral umpire, Delta State Independent Electorial Commission DSIEC was not going to conduct a credible elections as predicted, hence most of the party candidates withdrew from the polls.
According to him, “it’s very unfortunate and sad how low our people can go to acquire power. It’s even more troubling that after 25 years in our democratic experiment, we can’t conduct what looks like an election at local government level. “What took place in Delta State on Saturday to all intent and purpose can’t be classified as an election. It’s a complete sham and an affront to all known democratic ideals.“
The State electoral umpire most probably acting on the instructions of the state Governor just allotted figures to candidates who took part in the shambolic process. It can at best be described as a mere coronation of all PDP-nominated candidates.
“As predicted by political watchers that the Delta State PDP-led government is incapable of conducting free, fair and credible elections, DISEC proved all of us right. Because there were reports across the state that electoral materials, particularly results sheets were not supplied to many polling units, and in some cases, wards that were considered as strongholds of the opposition, voting materials were not supplied at all.
“It’s disheartening that our governors who are products of free and fair elections can’t replicate the same in the local government areas of their state. If INEC were to conduct elections the way the governors purportedly teleguide SIEC to conduct local government polls, many of them would not be governors today.
“I think at this point in our national history and democratic journey, we have to put partisan politics aside and work collectively to amend the relevant sections of our constitution to rescue the local government system from the grips of our governors.
“I must commend the laudable effort of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for taking the lead in this respect by ensuring financial autonomy for the local governments across the country.
“We must do likewise to enthrone democratic principles at the local government level by ensuring that a credible agency, possibly INEC, is charged with the conduct of local government elections across the country to guarantee our people’s participation in democratic governance.”