By Our Correspondent, Warri
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Delta South Senatorial District primary election process in Warri South Local Government Area has come under intense scrutiny following allegations of widespread irregularities and manipulation of election results.
Reports from the area alleged that the Returning Officer for Warri South Local Government Area, Dr. Kingsley Ashibogwu, who also serves as Delta State Commissioner for Basic Education, was being kept in a government facility within the council area where results from the 12 wards were allegedly being altered.
According to the allegations, results from the wards reportedly indicated that APC senatorial aspirant, Michael Diden, was leading in the exercise before the alleged manipulation.
Warri South Local Government Area is regarded as one of the major strongholds of Diden within the Delta South Senatorial District.
Reacting to the development, Itsekiri activist and founding member of the APC in Warri South, Yemi Otuedon, condemned the alleged actions and called for transparency in the conduct of the primary election.
“A party accused of rigging its own primaries cannot be trusted to uphold democratic principles. The APC represents a threat to credible internal democracy and electoral integrity. We will resist this fraud with every lawful means available to us,” Otuedon stated while addressing protesters.
The protesters called on relevant party stakeholders, electoral authorities and security agencies to intervene and ensure fairness, transparency and the protection of what they described as the genuine will of APC members participating in the primary election process.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no official response from the APC leadership in Delta State or from Dr. Kingsley Ashibogwu regarding the allegations.
