By Austin Ogwuda
THERE is growing apprehension on whether the local government elections will actually be conducted in Delta State in the nearest future as the electoral body – Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) has back-tracked on July 20 date earlier fixed.
DSIEC, had on Tuesday, in a letter purportedly signed by the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. R. J. A. Agbaike, fixed the State local government council election for Saturday July 20, with directive for political parties to conduct their primaries to elect Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates between May 5 and May 19.
The Townhall reliably gathered that the above time table released Tuesday didn’t go down well in certain quarters.
Therefore to save face, DSIEC in a dramatic turn of event out-rightly denied the said time table already in the public domain, saying that it didn’t emanate from it. The Commission proceeded to issue a rebuttal in the process.
The Commission, in its efforts to absolve self from the statutory responsibility it is charged to perform as an independent body was tactically silent on the punishment metted or to be metted on the alleged “forgers/impersonators” of the document, which undoubtedly, shows that, proverbially, there is more to it that meets the eyes.
The denial was contained in a terse message on Wednesday, signed by the Chairman of the Commission, Dr Agbaike, which reads, “The attention of the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission, DSIEC, has been drawn to a document containing the outlines of a ‘proposed public notice of election timetable and schedule of activities for the 2024 Local Government Council General Elections’ purportedly issued by the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission.
“The fake “public notice” which has gone viral on numerous social media handles is hereby refuted by the Commission and should be discountenanced in all its ramifications.
“We wish to inform the general public that the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission is yet to fix any date for the conduct of the 2024 Local Government Elections.
“The authentic date for the conduct of the 2024 Local Government elections shall be officially announced soon”.
Recall that the Commission addressed stakeholders’ meeting Tuesday in Asaba, Delta State capital.
*Caption: The Commission’s Chairman addressing the Stakeholders’ meeting.
