*Says the election will be held in a month and it will be a delegate election

By Matthias Ogbagah & Onome Ogbogoh
UGHELLI – The Delta State government and Ughelli Descendents Union (UDU) on Thursday put the much-anticipated Ekredjebo Youths election on hold following a security threat that was capable of causing a breakdown of law and order.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the cancellation of the election, the Director of Youth Mobilization and Leadership Ministry of Development, Delta State, Mr. Ogaga Aghogho, said that if the election is allowed to continue, there will be chaos in the community and the council as a whole.

According to him, the Delta State government, through the office of the Youth Mobilization and leadership, had held a series of meetings with all contestants in the election and agreed on a delegate election, but some persons in the community protested to the council chairman that they do not want a delegate election, they want an open ballot election.

“When they came to my office, we all agreed on a delegate election, and I wrote a letter to the community to inform them that the election would be a delegate election, but a group of persons protested to the council secretariat that they didn’t want a delegate election, and they all agreed on an open ballot election.

“On Tuesday, at the instance of the representatives of the council, representatives of the palace, and representatives of police and UDU, we screened all contestants for the youth election. I reiterated my earlier stand that the election will be difficult to manage if conducted with open balloting. They assured that they will manage it.
“When I got here today to conduct the election, the same people who protested against the delegate election are now calling for the delegate election.
“All concerns have agreed that the election should be concealed, settled for delegate election, and that the seven families made up of the Ekredjebo community should bring their delegates for the election for a new date to be announced in a month”.

Earlier, one of the contestants for the chairmanship position, Mr. Timothy Ikperha, expressed dissatisfaction with the cancellation of the election and berated the electoral umpire for dancing to the tune of those who refused to honour the state government’s invitation and orders.

“The issue of the Ekredjebo community’s election has been lingering for a long time. The state government invited us twice, but my opponent refused to honour the invitation. Then, the council chairman, Olorogun Jaro Egbo, invited us twice, but they turned down his invitations; rather, they ran to the palace.
“The state government mandated the council chairman to invite the whole community to address the election issue and it resolved there that the election should by delegate and the outcome of the meeting was communicated to the state and all security agencies but those who refused to honors the chairman’s invitation protested to the council demanding for “Option A” election system and the council chairman approved it for them but coming here today the same people who said they don’t want delegate election are now calling for delegate election”.
While calling on the Delta State government to take a proactive measures to address the issue, he said he suspected foul play saying after the electoral body for the election allowed electorate in for accreditation they asked them to queue behind their candidates and immediately they discovered that those queued behind me are more than those queued behind my opponent they said the election can not hold and that if it most hold it will be delegate election.
“I am not happy, they are costing me my hard-earned resources and time, the same people who protested against delegate election are now calling for delegate election on the day of the election, and the electoral body listened to them and cancelled the election”.
Meanwhile, the former deputy national president of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) Youth Wing, Engr. Frank Oyibodoro has criticized the cancellation of the election, saying the electoral body did not have any justifiable reason to cancel the election.

“I foresaw a hidden agenda, I suspected there was a special interest from some quarters, hence the election was moved from the Ekredjebo community town hall to the Ughelli kingdom hall.
“I did not see any security breach in the election venue that warrants the sudden cancellation of the election by the electoral body. It is questionable. I see that there are some major concerns over the election, which is why the electoral body sees that somebody is winning the election; they suddenly canceled the election”.