‘Mockery of democracy’ — LP calls for fresh LG polls in Edo

The Labour Party (LP) has described the local government election conducted in Edo state as a “mockery of democracy”.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won all 18 chairperson positions in Saturday’s election.

The election was conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission (ESIEC) in Edo north, Edo central and Edo south senatorial districts.

Obiora Ifoh, LP national publicity secretary, in a statement on Sunday, called for the conduct of new LG polls in the state.

The LP alleged that electoral officers came late or did not show up at all in some polling units, adding that in some places where the election held, insufficient ballot papers were brought.

“Reports from our agents across most of the polling units in the state confirmed that there were deliberate effort by the EDSIEC to frustrate voters by ensuring that the electoral officers either came late to the polling units or didn’t show up at all,” the statement reads.

“In few places where the election held, insufficient ballot papers were brought with no single result sheet. But at the end of the day, results were churned out with the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party returning elected.

“Edo people and Nigerians deserve the best to represent them in government. What happened in Edo state was a mockery of democracy and such must not be allowed to stand.

“We therefore call on the state government to also condemn the charade that happened on Saturday, denounce the outcome and call for a fresh and credible election.”

The LP also called on the national assembly to scrap State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) across the country.

The party said the conduct of  LG elections should be entrusted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for proper management.

“State Independent Electoral Commissions across Nigeria have failed to help democracy grow. They are purely appendages of the states government and there is nothing independent in them,” the statement reads.

‘We therefore call on the national assembly to scrap the commission and entrust the conduct of the local government elections on the Independent National Electoral Commission 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 grassroot politics.”

Meanwhile, Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, said he was satisfied with the conduct of LGA elections in the state.

He added that he was surprised at the level of voter turnout despite the rain.