The Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole has criticised the postponement the National Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission announced the shift of the elections to Monday after the problems resulting from the distribution of electoral materials across the country. Oshiomhole, who reacted to the non-availability of result sheets for the elections in the state, said in Benin on Saturday that the postponement had confirmed that some people were bent on scuttling the elections, warning the INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega to be on the lookout for such persons.
The former Nigeria Labour Congress President said, “It is shocking and Jega has to watch some people working with him because some of the old crooks who helped the PDP rig the 2007 are still there in INEC.
“This was a deliberate attempt to scuttle the election. In 2007 that was exactly the method they used. If people accept half of the materials by the time others arrive all the agents would have left the office.
“This is a clear design by the old elements in INEC to aid and abet rigging. Jega should watch out for these crooks in the INEC who are still involved in this anomaly. The result sheets for the senatorial contest are not bulky, so what is the excuse for not making them available.
“ INEC has no explanation for that. So, it is either we have full compliance of the Electoral Act or we don’t. There is no half bread. I appeal to our people to remain calm but however vigilant. One man one vote is a must, it is not negotiable. I call on Jega to fish out those responsible for this and bring them to book.”
The Minister of State for Works and a PDP top official in the state, Chief Chris Ogienwonyi, said he was disappointed with the postponement.
Ogienwonyi said “As a Nigerian I feel hurt that after all our preparations and as loyal party men, at the very last minute the elections were postponed. I feel a little bit disturbed. If it is true that because the result sheets of the Senate election are not available and the ACN members are stopping the distribution of materials because of that, again I am disturbed.
“We pray that they live up to expectations as it promised because INEC have all it takes to handle this election. I believe that they are supposed to have something like a helicopter for easy distribution of materials. We have spent so much on this election and you know that we are not the party in government here that has access to the state treasury so it is sad.”
The Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs. Rose Obuoforibo, told apprehensive party agents that the Final Senatorial Result Sheets were still being expected at 10am, two hours after the accreditation should have commenced.
Journalists, who besieged the Edo INEC office at Ikpoba Hill, Benin, were told by the REC that materials had arrived in batches.
Obuoforibo said, “Materials for the House of Representatives election are available but those for the Senate, not all arrived.”
“Materials for the House of Representatives arrived at about 3am. We have not seen the Senate election result sheets. And we allocated the ones for the House of Representatives in the presence of political parties. All the party agents were there. For that of the Senate, in the course of allocation, we noticed that the result sheets were not there.”
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said that the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd), who is the husband of the PDP’s Edo South Senatorial District candidate, Daisy Danjuma, had relocated to Benin.
The source, who craved anonymity, could however not confirm to our correspondent if the one-time Minister of Defence is registered to vote in Edo.
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