By Henry Ibya, Makurdi
Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC, Sunday issued certificates of return to the 23 elected Local Government Chairmen, all of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the just concluded local council elections in the state.
Presenting the certificates to the chairmen at BSIEC headquarters in Makurdi, chairman of the Commission, Richard Tombowua, said it was in fulfilment of the electoral process.
He commended Governor Hyacinth Alia for insisting that the election should be free and credible, expressing appreciation to all stakeholders and security personnel for their cooperation in making the process peaceful.
Tombowua appealed to aggrieved political parties to embrace peace, noting that only one person could be Chairman at a time and expressed optimism that those who won will work for the good of all.
Reacting to the declaration,the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Benue State, did not only condemne but rejects in absolute totality, what it described as travesty that unfolded on October 5, in the name of local government elections in the state.
The condemnation contained in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Tim Nyor, yesterday in Makurdi, said the Benue electorate, who turned up for the exercise were left waiting all day in vain at various polling units, and in the end only came away more deeply disillusioned as electoral officers or materials were not seeing at the polling units across the state.
“PDP is deeply saddened at this brazen display of lack of integrity, not only by the Benue State Governor, but also by the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission,BSIEC,which reneged on its earlier promises to guarantee the electorate their right to exercise their voting franchise.” Nyor lamented.
The Benue PDP spokesperson who said Governor Alia and BSIEC have failed the Benue people and in so doing, violated their sworn oath to uphold the integrity of the electoral process in the state, said it expressly states before the whole world that there was no local government polls held in the state last Saturday.
The party according to the Publicity Secretary said the blatant abuse of power and the unparalleled manipulation of the electoral process could not be tolerated in any democratic setting, and accordingly demanded that the sham exercise be cancelled and a fresh exercise conducted in line with extant electoral laws in conformity of integrity of the electoral process, adding that it will explore available legal options in case of any failure.
Also reacting candidate for the Chairmanship election in Guma Local Government on the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Ibrahim Tershaku, described the process as being far from free and fair, saying there were no electoral officers or materials at the polling units for electorates to vote.
On her path, Chairmanship contender for Agatu on the platform of APGA, Winifred Elaigwu, lamented that the results were announced before collation of result started and called for the cancellation of the results for a fresh election to be supervised by a different body and not BSIEC.