By Francis
The Delta state Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has commended the electoral process in Delta, saying the card readers was a success in his polling unit, but decline comment on the overall performance of the card readers, noting that there were complains from some quarters about the card readers in the state.
The governor who was accredited at about 12:45pm and voted at about 3:30pm told reporters that so far he was impressed with the turn out of voters in his unit, adding that despite the initial delay of materials, election went on smoothly.
When asked if he is confident that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would conduct a free and fair elections, Governor Uduaghan said he is very confident that the electoral body will conduct free and fair elections all over the country.
He said his expectations in the election was that his party would win all the seats in the election, adding that the PDP has done its best during the campaigns and that he has no doubt in his mind that Delta State will deliver hundred percent for President Jonathan.
Commenting on the cancelation of elections in Udu Local Government Area of the state, Governor Uduaghan said it was unfortunate that the elections in that area was cancelled as a result of little skirmishes in the area.
He said investigation is currently going on concerning the PDP chieftain, Hon. Esien Edijala, that was manhandled by thugs from the opposition party at Udu, stressing that police are already on the hunt for the party leader responsible for the dastardly act.
However, the Governor, appealed to INEC to speed up the rescheduled election in Udu, saying that it was necessary to conduct the election tomorrow so that Delta State’s results will not be delayed.
“The accreditation was smooth all the way. The process was less than a minute. So I will that apart from the initial delay of materials the process was smooth. The card reader for me and my wife was very smooth, but I have been getting feelers from the field that there are hitches, so I cannot give a full assessment of the card readers,” said Governor Uduaghan.
Meanwhile, a human right lawyer, Barrister Oghenegiabor Ikimi, yesterday told our correspondents in Udu Local Government Area where the election was suspended that “I still insist on the use of the PVC and the Card Reder by INEC despite the challenges recorded with the use of card readers in some parts of the country during yesterday’s poll as a return to the use of temporary voters card would be tantamount to going back to the dark age of ballot stuffing, ballot snatching and shambolic elections by desperate politicians. I therefore call for its continuous use in subsequent elections nation wide as it use has to a very large extent eliminated electoral malpractices associated with general elections in our nation. Where card reader fails, INEC can continue to employ the use of manual register until we perfect the use of the card reader machine in subsequent elections.
