Disappointment as Final Election Results Indicate Relatively Low Turnout in Delta

 

The overall presidential election results released on Tuesday in Asaba by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have indicated a generally unsatisfactory turnout of voters in Delta State.

Although, the state recorded a total of 2,719,313 registered voters at the commencement of the election, only 891,647 persons were accredited to vote in the 25 local government areas of the state, representing 32.789 percent of the registered voters.

However, the results showed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) garnered a total of 594,068 of the valid votes in the election while the All Progressives Congress (APC) had 221,292 votes.

The state INEC collation officer (SCO) for the February 23 presidential election in state, Prof Seth Accra Jaja, gave the respective figures in his remarks at the conclusion of the exercise at the state INEC headquarters in Asaba.

Nevertheless, the overall election results showed that the APC put up a strong performance at the just concluded presidential election in state compared with its performance during the 2015 election.

In the 2015 presidential election, the APC could only win a total of less than 50,000 votes in Delta State.

However, the party has recorded more than 450 percent improved performance in its overall performance in the previous exercise in 2015.

On the contrary, the results announced by INEC yesterday showed that the PDP in the state performed woefully going by its performance in 2015, when the party secured more than 2,000,000 (two million) votes at the presidential election.

The APC's relatively impressive showing in last Saturday's election in the state has been attributed partly to the special vote canvassing campaign launched by the party 2015 governorship candidate, Olorogun O'tega Emerhor, as well as the determination by incumbent Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to win the Delta Central senatorial seat in the light of the fierce fight put up by the PDP candidate, Hon Evelyn Oboro.

The remarkable performance of the APC is in spite of the factional crisis in the party which was aggravated in party following disagreement over the various party primaries.

The presence of former two-time PDP governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, who was the Delta South senatorial candidate of the party last Saturday in the party, apparently contributed significantly to the increased number of votes scored by the party particularly in the senatorial district.

Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the FRESH Party, Pastor Chris Okotie, who hails from the state, won a total of 109 votes out of the total valid votes cast in the state.