Nigeria Content Online

Contrary to speculations that the
governorship election in Delta State would be marred by violence, the
election was not only peacefully conducted in most parts of the state
yesterday, it witnessed an unprecedented turn out of voters.

Though there were a few reported cases
of ballot box snatching and stuffing in some of the polling units, the
election–which recorded the highest security patrol and policing
throughout the state–saw the electorate conducting themselves in an
orderly manner throughout the duration of the exercise.

Apart from areas in Owvian and the
Delta Steel Company township in Udu local government area where there
were reported cases of delay in the arrival of electoral materials,
INEC personnel and voting materials arrived in most parts of the Warri
metropolis and other neighbouring towns as early as 8.15am.
Accreditation of registered voters commenced immediately as well, with
the corps members used by INEC as ad hoc staff showing more commitment
to their job.

At 8.28am, the electoral officer (EO)
of Warri South Council, Sunday Akpan, said electoral materials arrived
in record time when compared to the previous elections and that the
distribution of these materials and personnel, especially to the creek
and other long distance locations, wasted no time.

According to Mr Akpan, “You can see
that there is a lot of improvement in the way and manner we discharge
our duties. It can only get better as the two previous elections we
have conducted had opened our eyes to some of the lapses on the job and
now we have corrected these lapses and we are now much better in our
task to conduct a hitch-free election.”

A stunning calm

At Effurun, the headquarters of the
Uvwie local government area, which is regarded as the most volatile
council area in the state, the election went on smoothly as residents
came out in large numbers to exercise their civic duty. By 10.30
electoral materials and personnel were seen at the various polling
units accrediting voters.

Ekpan, a major settlement in the
council area known for the violent nature of its community youth as a
result of local rivalry between two opposing camps, was not left out
either, as the area witnessed orderly conduct of the elections amid
tight security. Ekpan recorded the highest incidence of violence in the
April 9 NASS elections.

Residents of the area who were denied
access to their vote due to the mayhem caused by the youth during the
NASS election were happy that they were able to come out freely
yesterday to exercise their right to vote. They said there was no fear
of molestation or harassment by armed youth who were in the habit of
hijacking the electoral process in the area.

Mr Sunday Edebiri, a secondary school
principal, said he was excited that he was able to cast his vote for
the first time in the area. “This is the very first time I will be
allowed to vote since this electoral process started. I’m very happy
and fulfilled today and I hope my vote will count at the end of the
day.”

Uduaghan satisfied

At Abi-Ugborodo in Warri North local
government area, where the state governor Emmanuel Uduaghan hails from,
electoral materials and personnel arrived in Ward 6–which comprises
four units–as early as 8.30am and accreditation followed immediately.
The ward, which had over 3,000 registered voters, witnessed a large
turnout as voters from neighbouring towns and cities mobilised to the
riverside community in a show of solidarity. The governor was
accredited with his wife at about 10.20am and cast his vote at 12.35pm

Speaking with journalists after voting,
the governor expressed satisfaction with the exercise and appreciated
the people for coming out in their large numbers to vote. He commended
the INEC staff for a job well done and noted that the entire exercise
was an improvement over the previous elections held in the state.

He added “This is my third time of coming here to vote since the
electoral process started and you will agree with me that the conduct
here today is lot better. The first one was better and the second was
much better but this is much more better. So you can see the tremendous
improvement in the whole process.”