By Ikhili Ebalu, Benin City
Election materials distributed to the various LGAs by EDSIEC In Okada, Ovia North East LGA and Ovia South West in Edo state were alleged to have been forcefully taking away at gun by suspected PDP thugs.
The materials which arrived Okada at about 11:00PM on Friday 1st September 2023 were kept in the council secretariat.
In a-release made available to journalists in Benin city and signed by the publicity secretary of the LP , Comr. Sam Uroupa said, PDP thugs numbering over fifty were stationed at the entrance of the Secretariat where the materials were taking to, they started shouting and shooting sporadically to scare away all LP members
“we don’t want Labour Party here, its PDP we need.”
According to him, the vehicles that was parked beside by the hoodlums were all from Edo State Government House, suspected to have conveyed them there.
He said, “As we speak, both sensitive and non sensitive materials are still in their custody.
“As a Party we consider this as EDSIEC connivance with the PDP led government to hijack the process, if not why would they have to deliberately delay the distribution of materials till late in the night?
“EDSIEC should not make any attempt to announce any result already written in Government House because we are reliably informed that they used delayed the distribution of till night to enable the Government House plan of hijacking the process.
In Ovia South West it is the same thing, PDP thugs came with sporadic shooting and cart away the voting materials going to Ofunama ward, Inikorogha ward, Udo, Siloko and several other wards. In Oredo ward7, the voters were chased away with, Garrick, there were no materials brought to the place. As peak there is no election in the affected areas.
The situation is no different in many other places.
The entire exercise is been hijacked as there is voting taking place in all the poling units acrossn the the State. Edo Labour Party rejects the out
Come Of today’s election.
Reacting to the allegations, Chairman Of the commission, EDSIEC , Justice James Oyomire (rtd) said he is not aware of such.
“ we distribute the entire materials to the various local government areas, though there were late arrival in some areas due to the terrain .