It is said that repeating the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity or foolishness at best. But those who make change impossible, only make revolution inevitable. That is the sad tale of Delta State, where the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had held the state to ransom with their thirst to hold on to political power by all means necessary, but to the detriment of the majority. Right from time, the objective of Delta State PDP’s gory adventure has ‘ALWAYS’ been to tilt the election results in favour of their party, so as to continue subjecting majority of Deltans to years of exploitation and crude pillage of our collective patrimony. That is exactly what they have done again in the last concluded Gubernatorial elections in the State.
It is without bias that we can unarguably say that the March 9th, 2019 Gubernatorial election if properly conducted in Delta State, the All Progressive Congress (APC) would have won fair and square. But the Delta State PDP, knowing this beforehand, had designed an evil plot far greater than what they have done in past elections, to grab political power by force and rob the people of their will, desire and mandate concerning the Governorship election.
Up until few hours to the conclusion of the Gubernatorial polls in Delta State on the said election day – March 9th, 2019, elections were going smoothly and it was becoming clear that the APC would win. But it was just after mid-day, that was when armed PDP thugs and uniform persons obviously working in cohort with the PDP in Delta State, started invading all polling units across the State and raining terror on party agents, INEC agents and defenseless voters. They practically went from one polling unit to the other, either snatching ballot boxes, and where they saw/perceived that the APC had significant votes, they destroyed or burnt the ballot papers in those polling units under the watchful eyes of persons in uniforms. Now, we do not know if the said persons wearing uniforms were fakes, or if they were persons employed by the State. But suffice it to say that this bastardly act happened under the watch of persons wearing uniforms.
This evil plot orchestrated and carried by the PDP in Delta State, happened in almost all the Local Government Areas in Delta State without exemption. For instance, in Burutu and Bomadi, voting actually started on Friday evening March 8th, 2019 (which a day before the election). Despite the fact that several complaints were made to relevant authorities, nobody heeded the calls neither was anything done about it. On the day of the election proper, it became apparent that indeed, some persons had actually started their usual practice of undermining the electorates in Delta State.
We, like many other well-meaning Deltans that wants to see free and fair elections in Delta State, thought that this issue with PDP habit of rigging will be restricted or recorded only in some certain riverine communities. But when it started in Sapele, Uvwie, Udu, Ughelli South, Okpe, The entire Delta Central, Ukwuani, Ndokwa West, Ndokwa East, Ika North East, Ika South, Oshiomili, Aniocha, The entire Delta North; it became clear to many that the PDP never really prepared for any election whatsoever. They already know that in a well-conducted election, they will not be able to withstand the will of the people of Delta State. So, what they simply did was to recruit and arm thugs from outside the State. In some cases, we are told that some of the uniform persons were actually thugs of the PDP. And it is with the aid of these thugs, and clandestine persons, that they were able to undermine the will of the people of Delta State.
The people of Delta State, as many can see, are in a mourning mood because the will of the people have not been expressed in those polls that took place on Saturday March 9th, 2019. Though, attempts were made to instruct INEC to suspend the announcement of the election results because the results being announced were far in excess of what we know could have happened in the State, yet those results were announced. But the INEC Accreditation Records from their Data base, collaborates with what we are saying. In other words, it was not as they claimed. As the voters did not actually turn up at the various polling centers as much as being announced. INEC as at today, has less than 600,000 people Accredited as voters in Delta State. But the Gubernatorial election votes announced for Delta State exceeded 1.1million. That means, over 500 people who were not accredited, supposedly voted in the said Gubernatorial election in Delta State. If INEC Data base has less than 600,000 accredited voters in Delta State, yet the same INEC officially announced supposed election results of over 1.1 million votes, it clearly means that INEC has contradicted itself. We all would agree that this is a very serious issue. Is this really a victory for the PDP? In few days’ time, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and his PDP supporters will go to the Church for “MOCKERY THANKSGIVING”, and organize lavish parties to celebrate their so-called victory. But who are they deceiving? Obviously, themselves!
Although, the APC in Delta State and its leaders were said to have presented their case to the law enforcement agencies, to explain why this could happen under their supposed watch, and have also made their complaints to INEC, and of course have taken the decision to challenge all of the observed anomalies during the election; but the crux of the matter is that even a small child would see that something is amiss and not right in the just concluded Gubernatorial election in Delta State. The numbers just do not add up at all. How can the PDP said to have won in 23, out of the 25 Local Government Areas of Delta State? Where did they get those numbers from?
It is evident that the Delta State PDP did not allow a free conduct of the election process in Delta State. They practically positioned themselves like super umpire; making sure that they directed compromised INEC officers as they pleased, and removed every person who did not cooperate with them, out of the scene. Most of the APC party agents were said to have been driven away from collation centers, and collation in certain places took place outside the prescribed environment where the collation were supposed to take place. At the Ward level, Ward collation should have taken place at the Wards. But where the PDP had their ulterior motives, they made sure that collation did not take place at those Ward levels, as everyone concerned are scattered to allow them have their way. In fact, never have we witnessed such an election that was marred by violence and election malpractices of high proportions, like we did in Delta State in the just concluded March 9th 2019, Gubernatorial election. It is the worst election in Delta State in the past twenty years. The reign of terror, the amount of people injured and the number of those who were killed, and of course the disparity with the accreditation records from INEC; clearly testifies to the fact that indeed, the PDP in Delta State were unduly influencing and interfering with the process of the said Gubernatorial election to go in their favour.
However, what baffles us more in all of this is the indifferent attitude and disposition of most of the elites in the State. We cannot understand why our people and leaders are so myopic or blinded by the ill-gotten wealth given to them by PDP politicians in Delta State? The saddest part is that the so-called victory of the PDP in Delta is an ill-wind for the Urhobo people in the State, and Delta State as a whole in national affairs. From the outcome of the Presidential and Gubernatorial elections in 2019, the South-South and South-East, unfortunately now the strong holds of the PDP, will remain in the Opposition and suffer more marginalization for many years to come, as political power will obviously rotate between the Hausa/Fulani and Yorubas under the aegis of PDP. That also means that our quest for Restructuring will remain in a state of suspended animation for a long time until we join the party at the Center – APC.
The moment the APC won the Presidential elections, we actually thought that our people, particularly the elites and big politicians, would be sensible enough to abandon the PDP and massively support and put hands together to see that the APC won in the last Gubernatorial election in the State. But many of them, compromised their loyalty, sold their birthrights and by extension – the future of the next generation for another four years, as they allowed the PDP to have their way in their comeback to the State Government House. After 20 years of PDP rule in Delta State with very little to show, we sincerely thought our people would be wise to cooperate and massively cry out for change and ensure the peoples’ will and mandate are not stolen like before. It is really a sad tale!
Zik Gbemre.
National Coordinator
Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)
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