Delta APC call for cancellation of results

APC governorship candidate O’tega Emerhor displaying one of the allegedly doctored and falsified elections result in Delta State.

(Guardian) - The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called for outright cancellation of last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections held in Delta State, saying the exercise was a sham. It alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) manipulated results to favour its candidates.

The governorship candidate of the APC in Delta Sate, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, made the call yesterday at his country home in Warri while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the elections. He called on INEC to announce a date for the conduct of fresh election in the state.

He, therefore, called on all its party agents in the state not to sign any “INEC-doctored or fake results sheets by PDP riggers in collaboration with corrupt INEC officials.” He alleged that all results so far collated in Delta State were fraudulently obtained by PDP and submitted to INEC in Asaba for declaration. “We are saying to INEC that the election that took place on Saturday in Delta State was a farce. So many things went wrong and as I speak to you now, Delta State results are being manipulated by PDP. Our agents do not even know the location of INEC returning officers.

I understand that 12 results have reached INEC in Asaba. They have suspended collation right now and they are waiting for the process of falsifying results to continue,” Emerhor said. According to him, most result sheets in many polling units were confiscated, while in other units there were no result sheet, adding that even some resident electoral officers in some local government areas were kidnapped and taken to unknown destinations.

He blamed the situation on INEC’s the last minute decision to use manual voting as opposed to the use of the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) that would have enabled the detection of manipulation of votes and falsification of results.

He also condemned an attack on journalists in Warri by some unidentified policemen in Ughelli. Emerhor said the attack was a “desperation by the ruling party to hide their dubious activities such that some security operatives compromised started assaulting law-abiding iournalists who are out there performing their legitimate assignments.” However, Delta State government has denied reports in some online portals that results of the Saturday election conducted in Delta State had been collated. Information Commissioner Chike Ogeah, in a statement, described the figures quoted by online news portal were outright falsehood.

The statement said: “The attention of the Delta State Government has been drawn to a story on Saharareporters website where it was claimed that collation of results for the presidential election has been concluded in the state.

Writing under the headline “preliminary independently collated presidential results” where it ran a table of results purportedly from all the states, Saharareporters claimed that the All Progressive Congress (APC) scored 5,331 votes in the presidential poll while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) secured 205,256 votes. “This report is utterly false and should be seen as the product of armchair journalism by Saharareporters. The fact of the matter is that as at 5.30 pm today, Monday, March 30, 2015, results from only 11 out of the 25 local government areas in Delta State had been collated. The collation of results is still in progress.

This should not come as a surprise given the challenging terrain in the state where many local councils are in the riverine areas. “The INEC office in Asaba will forward the result to its headquarters in Abuja when the results are collated.” Meanwhile, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay, has expressed displeasure over the disenfranchisement of no fewer than 33, 000 registered voters in Isoko North Local Government Area, in the presidential and National Assembly elections.

The SSG, while fielding questions from news men shortly after voting at Unit 4, Ward 1 in Owhelogbo Isoko North Local Government Area, said the shortfall of materials for 33, 000 eligible voters out of 107, 000 registered was a rape on democracy. He, however, described the election as peaceful, orderly and commended eligible voters for coming out enmasse to exercise their franchise and for comporting themselves in an orderly manner.

A cross section of the voters who included Prof. Samuel Aghelino of the University of Ilorin, decried the malfunctioning of the card reader, lamenting that many eligible voters were disenfranchised. They called on INEC to do something to checkmate the failure of card readers.