DELTA Gov Election: Ogboru rejects results

Ogboru

GUBERNATORIAL Candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in Delta State, Chief Great Ogboru has rejected the results of the April 11 gubernatorial election and said he was heading to the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election he alleged was characterized by massive rigging by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Ogboru who stated in a press conference in his Abraka country home, yesterday said his party was rejecting the declaration of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as the winner of the April 11 gubernatorial election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

He said; “We reject this declaration by INEC. Okowa did not score majority of lawful votes cast in the election and did not also meet relevant constitutional provisions.

“It is our firm view that the return of Senator Okowa as governor-elect does not reflect the democratic will of the majority of our electorate. His said return is based on electoral irregularities and malpractices that cannot be ignored by any unbiased umpire.

“We can confirm that we are ready to approach the Election Petition Tribunal to set aside the return of Senator Okowa as governor-elect or governor on the chief ground that he did not win the election.

“You may recall that INEC issued a press statement dated April 2, 2015 through its Secretary, Mrs Augusta Ogakwu that ‘Card readers will be used for the April 11, 2015 Elections.’ INEC stated that where a card reader failed, election in the Polling Unit concerned was to be held the following day. “We in the Labour Party in Delta went into the election trusting that INEC would deploy and use the card readers as enshrined in its 2015 Guidelines for Elections Officials.Regrettably, some officials of INEC violated the guidelines and its further reassurance to our disadvantage.

“We note at this juncture that the use of card readers was largely restricted to Delta Central Senatorial District which has over 50% of eligible voters. Card Readers were strictly used for accreditation and collation in most of Delta Central in line with INEC’s guidelines. This implies that every vote we received is genuine, lawful, valid and legitimate.

“In a curious summersault, card readers were overwhelmingly not used in Delta North and South. The election was conducted arbitrarily as dictated by PDP chieftains who took over the duties of INEC personnel in these two senatorial districts and parts of the Central. By that singular action, some officials of INEC once again allowed ‘toxic votes’ to be used to defeat the peoples’ will. These votes are unlawful and invalid.