The senator representing Delta Central, Ede Dafinone, has described the Delta State local government elections held on Saturday as “a complete sham and a mockery of democratic ideals and standards.”
Dafinone, while reacting to the outcome of the council poll said, “It is very unfortunate that people at the grassroots level are prevented from participating in our democratic process by state governors to freely elect their councillors and council chairmen.”
While applauding President Bola Tinubu for supporting financial autonomy for local governments across the country with the recent Supreme Court judgment, he noted that “Nigerians of goodwill must collectively work to amend the relevant sections of the constitution to rescue the local government system from the iron-fist of the state governors.”
Dafinone said, “The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta sensed that the electoral umpire, Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC), was not going to conduct credible elections as predicted, hence most of the party candidates withdrew from the polls.
“It’s very unfortunate and sad how low our people can go to acquire power. It’s even more troubling that after 25 years in our democratic experiment we can’t conduct what looks like an election at the local government level.
“What took place in Delta State on Saturday to all intents and purposes can’t be classified as an election. It’s a complete sham and an affront to all known democratic ideals.
“The state electoral umpire most probably acting on the instructions of the state Governor just allotted figures to candidates who took part in the shambolic process. It can at best be described as a mere coronation of all PDP-nominated candidates.
“As predicted by political watchers that the Delta State PDP-led government is incapable of conducting free, fair, and credible elections, DSIEC proved all of us right. Because there were reports across the state that electoral materials, particularly result sheets, were not supplied to many polling units, and in some cases, wards where they consider strongholds of the opposition, voting materials were not supplied at all.”
He further explained, “It’s disheartening that our governors, who are products of free and fair elections, can’t replicate the same in the local government areas of their state. If INEC were to conduct elections the way the governors purportedly teleguide SIEC to conduct local government polls, many of them would not be governors today.
“I think at this point in our national history and democratic journey, we have to put partisan politics aside and work collectively to amend the relevant sections of our constitution to rescue the local government system from the grips of our governors.
“I must commend the laudable effort of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for taking the lead in this respect by ensuring financial autonomy for the local governments across the country.
“We must do likewise to enthrone democratic principles at the local government level by ensuring that a credible agency, possibly INEC, is charged with the conduct of local government elections across the country in order to guarantee our people’s participation in democratic governance.”
