Delta LG Poll: Etaghene calls for Credible poll

Ahead of the forthcoming local government election in Delta State, a chairmanship aspirant in Ethiope East Local Government Area on the platform of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Mr Ejiro Etaghene has told the State Independent Electoral Commission, DSIEC to conduct a credible poll and jettison any plan to write results in favour of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

Etaghene who declared his intention to run for the Chairmanship seat before a large crowd of APC faithfuls and subsequently endorsed by the Ethiope East Local government chapter of APC Stakeholders forum, vowed that the forthcoming poll will not be business as usual, adding that he was well equipped and prepared to challenge any irregularity in the law court.

He said: “Ethiope East is known to be an APC local government. APC is fully on ground here, we won all our elections in the last poll, we have the minority leader of the State House of Assembly from this Local government; we have the Deputy President of the Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege and President Muhammadu Buhari all behind us. So, if DSIEC does not want to conduct election in any other Local government they must conduct election in Ethiope East.”

Also speaking, a chieftain of the APC in Delta State, Olorogun Jaro Egbo who drummed support for the chairmanship aspiration of Ejiro Etaghene, urged the people of the Local Government area to join hands and work together for the success of the party in the area.

On his part, Chairman of APC stakeholders forum in the Local Government area, Chief Ufuoma Denirah described Etaghene as a man who has worked hard for the party, adding that the forum has endorsed him for the position because they found him worthy.

Chairman of the party in Ethiope East, Mr Lyndon Ugbome, said Ethiope East people were not afraid of election, noting that the opposition is already having sleepless nights because of the party. He added that he has never lost an election at any level since becoming the chairman of the party in the area.

In a related development, the All Progressives Congress APC said its Screening Committees have cleared all 45 aspirants who purchased expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the Party’s Primary Election scheduled this Thursday. This is coming ahead of the October 31 concurrent legislative bye-elections across some states of the Federation.

The party in a statement by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yekini Nabena on Tuesday said “there are no preferred, pre-determined or anointed aspirants”.

The party said the clarification became necessary following a statement by one of its chieftains, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla alleging an attempt to “foist” a predetermined candidate in the forthcoming Cross River North Senatorial District by-elections.

“Under the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led caretaker committee, the Party is already moving in a new and progressive direction whereby things are done properly and internal democracy is the norm. The party will continue to give all aspirants a level playing field while also ensuring that only those with impeccable records and are popularly elected are presented as APC candidates in all elections”.

The APC has said the PDP was sure of losing the election and it has resorted to cheap lies against the APC. The party congress on Tuesday denied reports by the Peoples Democratic Party that it sponsored an opinion poll that produced a result where the APC was lost in 16 out of the 18 local government areas that make up the state.

A statement by the Chairman APC Media Campaign Council, John Mayaki said “Having run out of verve and rendered dispirited by the growing rejection of their incompetent candidate, their hallucinations have grown worse, and is this time manifested in a bizarre fantasy of a purported victory in an online poll which they falsely and irresponsibly claim was sponsored by us”

“While we understand the PDP’s desperation as informed by their cluelessness on how to proceed further now that the people’s message of rejection to them has become clearer and impossible to ignore, we nevertheless expect them to at least put in some effort in their creation of fiction and spinning of lies, especially since the new strategy they appear to be deploying is to build a mountain of excuses in anticipation of the disgraceful defeat they will suffer at the polls”

“To begin with, it is important to state that the irresponsible and false claim bandied by the PDP that the APC sponsored and lost an online poll is dismissed by two factual points: the first being that as a party,

“If the PDP wants to be taken seriously, then they should provide undebatable evidence of our sponsorship of this said opinion poll. They should not only publish the contractors, or the organization contracted, but must also disclose the full details and result of the said poll conducted by APC and won by the PDP.”