As discordant tunes trail the none conduct of
local government election in Delta State several months after
council chairmen left office, the newly appointed Chairman of Delta State
Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) Mr. Moses Ogbe has cited
lack of funds, infrastructure , logistics and inadequate security as
major reasons why council elections could not be conducted in Delta
State.
Ogbe who stated this yesterday in Asaba while fielding questions
from newsmen during a courtesy visit to Delta State NUJ
secretariat said what he meet on ground upon assumption of office 100
days ago, were inadequate for him to conduct a free and fair local
government election in the state.
local government election in Delta State several months after
council chairmen left office, the newly appointed Chairman of Delta State
Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) Mr. Moses Ogbe has cited
lack of funds, infrastructure , logistics and inadequate security as
major reasons why council elections could not be conducted in Delta
State.
Ogbe who stated this yesterday in Asaba while fielding questions
from newsmen during a courtesy visit to Delta State NUJ
secretariat said what he meet on ground upon assumption of office 100
days ago, were inadequate for him to conduct a free and fair local
government election in the state.
He said the commission lacked adequate logistics to move electoral materials
round the state, adding that the current office accommodation of the commission
grossly, inadequate as there was no escape route in the office in
times of emergency, saying that arrangements were being made to move the
commissions office to another location.
round the state, adding that the current office accommodation of the commission
grossly, inadequate as there was no escape route in the office in
times of emergency, saying that arrangements were being made to move the
commissions office to another location.
According to him, “there are some conditions precedent to conducting a good
election , and those conditions must be meet, some of the structures we met on
ground , there are not conducive for the conduct of election, for example, the
office where we are operating from , it will be very difficult for me and my
team to conduct election from there, because each time it rains,
the environment is usually flooded.
“All the roads leading to the Commission’s office are so narrow that it cannot
contain vehicles that will convey ballot boxes and other electoral materials to
their various polling units. Also, in the event of threat to our security,
there is no escape route, so election can only be conducted where there will be
free flow of movement, people can come into the office and freely go out.
“We want to get all these things in place before the election can hold and we
just got approval to look for a new office accommodation, the ministry of land
and urban development is working on that. Secondly, the Commission does not
have a secretary now, we are working on that, because election cannot be
conducted without a secretary for the Commission, so as soon as we get all
these rough edges fine tuned, we will come out with a time table for the
conduct of the local government election in the state but for now I cannot give
a categorical date”.
Source: Thisday
