By Austin Ogwuda
WITH few days away to the July 13 local government elections in Delta State, Nigeria these three political parties that are visible in the State, namely APC, PDP and Labour Party are engaged in war of words.
The Labour Party had on Monday July 8, 2024 embarked on a protest march to the Delta State Police Command’s headquarters in Asaba as well as the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) demanding for a free and fair conduct of the council elections and the announcement of results at polling units real time to avoid “abracadabra’ (rigging).
But in a swift reaction, the ruling People’s Democratic Party PDP through its State Secretary Dan Ossai described the protest as merely crying wolves whereas there is none.
He said in a statement that “Delta PDP has always embarked on broad-based, robust, all encompassing and all inclusive rallies as well as mop-up, door-door mosquito campaigns ahead of every election, while the opposition has often busied itself with complaints and protests instead of campaigning to Deltans and selling their candidates and manifestos to the people.
“Thus, this Labour Party protest is a mere diversionary and digressive smokescreen to seek visibility and some sort of optical relevance, which is absolutely tangential, immaterial, insignificant and of no consequence whatsoever to the conduct and outcome of the election”.
At a campaign rally in Ogbe-ijoh, Warri South-West and Koko, Warri North Council areas, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Ayirimi Emami said that he has been inundated with calls that PDP candidates are boosting that the elections have already concluded ahead of Saturday.
“Some of us are very sure that if they bring materials, people will not vote PDP in this State. If you see all my statements in the places I have gone for campaign, I say they want State Police, they clamour that there is insecurity and they want state policing but just this little assignment that is being given to the State governments to conduct local government elections they sit in their bedrooms, write results and appoint people”.
He concluded by saying that “We are ready for the chairmanship election. We don’t believe in hand picking and writing results. The opposition does not have someone with the capacity to match our candidate”, he boasted.
Photo caption: APC stalwart, Chief Ayirimi Emami addressing the rally ahead of Saturday’s local government elections