‘Dead men voted in Delta PDP primaries’

Posted by admin Delta, State News Saturday, January 15th, 2011

NAMES of several dead people surfaced on the executive delegates list of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) used in the conduct of Ika South and Ika North East Federal Constituency of Delta State and were fraudulently answered by voters in a bid to ensure the return of their candidates.

This was part of the allegations raised by some of the aspirants who pointed the issue out to the executive committee of the state PDP led by Peter Nwaboshi, prompting the cancelation of the result.

The aspirants listed some persons who died years ago but whose names were still retained in the delegates list used for the election. They said this made it possible for ineligible persons to vote in their places in the primaries.

One of the aspirants, Dunku Nnamdi Chamberlain, who confirmed this to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday, noted that other irregularities which marred the conduct of the primaries in the area included lack of an authentic executive delegates list which led to the use of a 2003 “doctored list.”

This led to the withdrawal of most of the 10 contestants, leaving in the race just three candidates including Kingsley Odabi, Frank Nwogo and Victor Nwokolo who had been declared winner in the now annulled election.

“I protested vehemently when I discovered this anomaly and nothing was done. We are satisfied now that the party has stepped in and the issued will hopefully be resolved in the interest of fair play, equity and justice,” Chamberlain said.

The aspirant also pointed out that even though representatives from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) monitored the exercise, the process still went ahead.

-Tribunewp_posts