Saturday’s local government elections in Isoko South and Isoko North Local Government Areas recorded a low turnout of voters in some wards and polling units.
NewsNet correspondent that monitored the conduct of the elections for chairmanship and councillorship positions in the two council areas reports that the exercise was violent free.
It was the much anticipated Saturday, March 6, 2021, a day set aside for the conduct of the 2021 local government elections in Delta state, but the restriction of human and vehicular movements in and out of Isoko South and Isoko North Local Government Areas revealed a sharp difference between the elections conducted by the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission, DSIEC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Commercial motorcycle riders popularly known as Okada riders went about their daily hustling with some shops opening for business.
From Iyede to other parts of Isoko nation, no security checkpoints and patrols were spotted by the DRTV News crew which raised doubts about the over eight thousand policemen the Delta State Police Command claimed it deployed for the conduct of the elections in the state.
In Ward one, unit two at the council secretariat of Isoko South Local Government in Oleh, a voter was captured on camera casting her ballot.
It was gathered from the DSIEC electoral officials that voters were coming in trickles with the election going on without any hitch.
Two petty traders selling opposite the council secretariat claimed that they voted but had to quickly open for business for their daily survival.
At Ozoro ward 17, unit 1, and Emevor ward 7, unit 1 and two at Emehwa primary School, Emevor, the story was however different as a large number of voters turned out for the election.
Some voters who were on the queue waiting to be accredited and vote said the processes for the election were being adhered to by the electoral officers at the unit.
At Olomoro ward, unit 3, the chairmanship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Deaconess Hoplyn Ayu alleged that there were no result sheets across the Isoko South Local Government Area.
When it was inquired from the electoral officers at the polling unit about the result sheets they were unable to offer explanations.
The allegation by the APC candidate was however dismissed by some stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the council area, who claimed all electoral materials arrived at the ward and polling unit as scheduled.
Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay, Hon. Johnson Erijo, Dr Paul Oweh and Dr Nelson Ejakpovi, all of the PDP said at their respective polling units where they voted and from information available to them by the party’s agents across the polling units, the conduct of the election in the area went on smoothly.
They gave a pass mark to DSIEC for the proper arrangements made for the hitch-free conduct of the election.
By 12noon at Aviara town hall, several electoral officers accompanied by some party agents had arrived at the collation centre with ballot boxes and other electoral materials for onward movement to Oleh, the headquarters of the Isoko South Local government Area.
All eyes are now on DSIEC for the official release of the election results from Isoko South, Isoko North and other local government areas in Delta state.
