By Austin Ogwuda
Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, the Distinguished Senator representing Delta South Senatorial District has strongly condemned the Delta State Independence Electoral Commission (DSIEC) for failing to release sensitive electoral materials including result sheets and ballot papers for today’s (Saturday) local government council elections.
Speaking in Emede, Isoko South, Delta State, Nigeria, Senator Joel-Onowakpo accused DSIEC of colluding with the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to deny citizens their fundamental right to vote, effectively rendering the election invalid.
The Senator alleged that the PDP aware of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) readiness to take over local government affairs, conspired with DSIEC to manipulate the electoral process.
Senator Joel-Onowakpo lamented that the PDP-led government has once again undermined Delta State’s democratic heritage, saying that “democracy worldwide is about the will of the people but DSIEC and the PDP have conspired to deny citizens their right to elect local government leaders. This is undemocratic and unacceptable”.
He emphasized that the non-release of sensitive materials constitutes electoral fraud and compromises the election’s integrity.
The Senator advocated for local government autonomy and commended the Federal Government and Supreme Court for taking steps towards this goal.
He stressed the need for Constitutional amendment to transfer the power to constitute State Electoral Commission from State Governors to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Until INEC takes over local government elections, we cannot guarantee the true autonomy of the third tier of government”, Senator Joel-Onowakpo stated.
Efforts to get reactions from DSIEC to give reason why they allegedly took such action were not successful as at the time of this report.
