UMOGHUN’N’OKHUA (ORHIONMWON) – The Commissioner representing Orhionmwon on the board of Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Development Areas Commission, EDSOGPADEC, Hon. Osaretin Edoma, the honourable Councilor representing Ugu Ward, Hon Macy Ogiku and the All Progressives Congress Chairman in Ugu Ward, Mr. Monday Igbinigie, have sadly expressed disappointment over missing result sheets for the Saturday presidential and national assembly elections in Ugu Ward which abruptly led to the cancellation of the election process in the area.
In their separate interviews with the Nigerian Observer at Ugu Primary School, Umoghun N’Okhua, centre for the distribution of election materials to various polling units that make up Ugu Ward, while Hon. Edoma called for the cancellation of the election due to lacuna altitude of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to use an unfunctionable card readers and coupled with the fact that accreditation of voters could not begin until 2:30pm.
He described the preparation of INEC for the elections as flawed and urged APC supporters in his ward to exercise little perseverance and patience as a later date will be fixed for the conduct of elections to enable them perform their civic responsibility as constitution demands.
On his part, Honourable Macy Ogiku, posited that the absence of result sheets in various polling units facilitated the cancellation of the election in the ward.
He said that when election materials had been distributed to his unit, he asked the INEC officials as to whether there were result sheets they said that they wouldn’t know and that their supervisor was in better position to answer the question.
An action that prompted Hon. Ogiku to draw the attention of the electorate, and agreed that the election must not hold.
Confirming the same, the Chairman of APC in Ugu Ward, Mr. Monday Igbinigie noted that he became suspicious of the inordinate ambition of the opposition party, PDP, to rig the election, when the INEC officials were still sorting out election materials to different units as at 2:30pm and that when they finally done with them, it was discovered that there were no result sheets.
He said that when he confronted the supervisor in the presence of the DPO Iguelaba Police Division, and the journalist, the supervisor concurred that the result sheets of Ugu ward were erroneously taken to Igbanke without recourse to the exigency of the people to cast their votes and consequent upon that flaws, the electorates decided to boycott the election.
Hon. Edoma, however, advised the APC supporters in Ugu Ward and the entire Wards in Orhionmwon to remain calm as nobody could alter what God has designed, just as he expressed gratitude for the ways and manners they conducted themselves.
He said that he was optimistic that APC candidates would be victorious at both presidential and national assembly elections and particularly commended the efforts of the security agents for living up to the expectations of the electorates.
He especially praised the DPO, Igulaba Division for performing above board in guiding the electorates just as he expects them to do more to prevent violence in the remaining elections.