Matilda Omonaiye/
A clash between supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the aftermath of the Delta State local government council elections on Saturday has left one person dead in Evwreni, Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state.
Sources in the community said the incident occurred at about 5 pm on Saturday when a candidate of the PDP, Mr. Odeimor Ezekiel, who emerged winner of the councillorship election was jubilating with his supporters on the streets of the community and had a fracas close to the East West Expressway with the councillorship candidate of the APC, Marcus Uba and his supporters who were allegedly relaxing somewhere.
According to eyewitnesses, the clash between supporters of the two political parties led to the death of a resident identified as Mr. Muvi, a situation that reportedly heightened tension in the restive community.
NewsmakersNG learnt that the development came amidst a verbal war between the APC and PDP in the state over alleged plots to rig the election in which the police command said it had deployed 8,292 personnel to maintain peace and order.
However, the state chapter of the APC said it had withdrawn from the election while the exercise was ongoing, alleging that the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) failed to deliver voting materials and result sheets across the 500 voting wards in the state.
Sylvester Imonina, the party’s publicity secretary in Delta State, says in a statement that the alleged act by the PDP undermined the will of the people to elect a candidate of their choice.
The statement reads in part: “All Progressives Congress (APC) Delta State, told Deltans some days ago that there were evil machinations to deprive Deltans of their rights to choose who to lead them at the local government level. True to the concerns raised by our Party days ago, DSIEC, PDP and Gov. Okowa have done the evil they know how to do best.
“Yesterday, 5th of March, 2021 at DSIEC headquarters in Asaba, Delta APC Representatives were not allowed to take statistics of the materials that DSIEC intended transporting to the different LGAs in the state. This is despite the insistence of the party’s representatives that it is the right of political parties to inspect and confirm what material is meant for “what and where.”
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