By NYERHOVWO OGHENETEJIRI
The Chairman, Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC), Chief Mike Ogbodu, has said that the commission has put every necessary arrangement in place to conduct a hitch free Local Government Election in the State scheduled to hold Saturday, March 6, 2021. The former Commissioner of Police (CP) spoke in an interview with our correspondent where he disclosed that DSIEC will be conducting elections in 500 wards, even as he said that 238 councillors and one chairmanship candidate have been returned unopposed.
Happy reading.
Can we meet you?
My name is Chief Barrister Mike Ogbodu, Commissioner of Police (Rtd), the Chairman Delta State Independent Electoral Commission( DSIEC).
It is already a known fact that you are conducting Local Government election come March 6, 2021, how prepared is DSIEC for this exercise?
Oh! We are very prepared, it was 30th October last year, we engaged all shekeholders, involving political parties, security agents and others where we unveiled our guidelines and time table, so far, many activities have been taking place such as training and we have enback on training of personal and specially our staff to prepare them for the challenges ahead.
Can you throw more light on the number of adhoc staff your commission have engaged for the exercise?
It was on Saturday that we engaged the adhoc staff, a total number of 8,283 personnels for the election.
Can you speak in specific terms some innovations DSIEC has brought into place for this year’s election?
Firstly, we have engage foreign partners like IFEX and UNDP. They have been involved in our training and they are internatiinal organizations which have helped us in training our staff on modern techniques in election.
Outside this training are there new ideas DSIEC has brought to play as we embark on this election?
Yes, we have been engaging stakeholders across board like security agencies and other relevant stakeholders have been brought.
How many wards is DSIEC going to conduct election in Delta State?
In Delta State we have 500 wards and so far there are some wards where candidates are returned unopposed. So far we have 238 councillors and chairmanship candidate that have been returned unopposed….
Cuts in.. meaning election will not hold in those areas?
Yes, election will not be held in those wards.
What effort has DSIEC put in place to curb delay of arrival of electoral materials to polling units?
So far we don’t have such cases in Delta State but all the same we have started moving all relevant electoral materials to the areas where election and we are very sure that there will be no delay in arrival of materials.
What is the relationship between DSIEC and stakeholders involved in this election, particularly, the CSOs?
Yes, our relationship with stakeholders is very cordial and we have been engaging them in several training and meetings. It is very very cordial.
Can you tell us in clear terms the challenges you commission encountered in preparation for this year election?
No challenges because all that we need have been put in place. No challenges!
What is your message to the electorates and political parties involved in this election?
My message clearly to the electorates is that they should be rest assured that the election will be free fair and credible. All that they need to do on that day is to go out cast thrones peacefully. Security agencies have been put in place to maintain peaceful election on that day.
You talk of about security, what is the relationship between DSIEC and security agencies as we go into this election?
We have been having robust relationship with security agencies like the police, the army and the civil defense corps.
