• Obaseki in church, says result reflects people’s wish
From Tony Osauzo Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin and Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC), yesterday, presented Certificates of Return to the newly elected 18 councils chairmen amid condemnaation and protest.
The Certificates of Return were presented by EDSIEC chairman, Justice Oyomire James (retd) at the EDSIEC office in Benin.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) swept the poll.
But the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) have protested the conduct of the elections.
The state chairman of the APC, David Imuse, who spoke on phone from Ekpoma, described the elections as scam and scam, it is a charade.
The LP, on its part, staged a massive protest against with the three candidates of the Benin municipal councils, namely, Egor, Ikpoba-Okha and Oredo, announcing their withdrawal from the elections.
The protesters who stormed the state secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), comprised of members of the party in Oredo and Ikpoba Okha local government areas.
However, Governor Godwin Obaseki, said the performance showed PDP’s dominance, noting that the outcome of the election was a reflection of the wish of the majority of Edo people.
Obaseki spoke to journalists at the Diocese of Benin (Anglican Communion), St. Peter’s Anglican Church, during the 15th memorial thanksgiving service of his father, late Pa Roland Oni Obaseki
The governor was in the company of the Secretary to Edo State Government, Osarodion Ogie and Oredo Local Government chairman-elect, Dr. Tom Obaseki, among other top government functionaries.
The governor, who was elated over the outcome of the local government election in the State, said Edo people werre democratically mature as there was no single violence recorded during the electioneering process.
Regardless, the National chairman of LP, Julius Abure described the election as another sad testimony of how a state government can descend so low in attempting to rubbish the gains of democracy.
According to a statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, Abure said democracy can only succeed when the authorities allow votes of the people to count and the choice of the voters respected.
He called on the National Assembly to scrap state electoral commissions (SIEC) and entrust the conduct of local government elections on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for proper management.
“State Independent Electoral Commission has become an embarrassment to democracy in Nigeria. It is, therefore, time to scrap them so as to restore sanity in our grassroots politics,” he said.