Less than 24 hours for the conduct of the of local government council elections in Delta State, a pressure group, the Delta Youth Assembly, (DYA), has warned governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC), to allow votes of Deltans count by conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and acceptable election come Saturday, January, 6, 2018 in the state.
Issuing the warning in Asaba while commenting on the Saturday’s local government election, President of the group which comprises all the ethnic nationality youths in the state, Kelly Gilor, stated that “As body, we want DSIEC to conduct this council election without fear or favor, and also be an unbiased umpire to all the political parties that are participating in the council election. DSIEC should ensure that, the result of the election reflect the true will of the people (electorates), because any manipulation to favour any political party will plunge our dear state to political crisis.”
According to Mr. Gilor, “Any election result that does not reflect the true will of the electorates, always have repercussions, and at the end, people lost their lives and properties, and for those reasons. I call on Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) to do the needful by conducting free, fair, credible, transparent and acceptable council election across the 25 local government areas in the state, to avoid lost of lives and properties.”
The group however admonished DSIEC to copy the pristine standard of Anambra state election conducted last year November by INEC as a very sound example of peaceful, free, fair, credible, transparent and acceptable to all the political parties and their candidates that participated in that election.
The group’s President urged Deltans to come out enmass on Saturday to cast their votes for any candidate of their choice, saying their votes will surely count. “Let me also use this medium to advise all the candidates, that election is not a do or die affair, so please caution your supporters to be peaceful and law abiding before during and after the election.