There are fears that the March 6 local government election in Delta may run into hitches following a suit by 74 aggrieved political parties which were unlawfully excluded from participating in the elections.
In a suit filed by the parties at the federal high court in Asaba, the Delta state capital, the parties are jointly seeking an order to block the Delta state electoral umpire, DSIEC, from going ahead with the elections. Their grievance is that they were unlawfully excluded from the ballot
In the suit No, FHC/ASB/CS/4/21 dated 15th January, 2021, the Change Advocacy Party (CAP) and 73 other parties are seeking an injunction compelling the INEC and DSIEC to cancel all primaries conducted in the state until they are included in the ballot.
One of the plaintiffs, Mr. Lucky Dikadi, who is the chairman of the Change Advocacy party (CAP) in Delta told journalists on Tuesday in Asaba that the affected parties approached the court following the refusal of the Delta state government to heed the ruling of the Federal Court of Appeal, Abuja, that the parties should be relisted into the ballot.
In the suit, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is listed as the 1st Defendant, while the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC) is the 2nd Defendant.
Dikadi, a governorship candidate in the 2019 governorship election in Delta state under the platform of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), said the Appeal court had on 10th August, 2020, in a suit number, CA/ABJ/CV/507/2020, gave judgment that the affected parties be relisted into the register of political parties in Delta.
“The plaintiffs are seeking among other things, a declaration that the refusal or neglect of the 1st defendant to relist the paintiffs in the register of political parties in unlawful.
“A declaration that it is unlawful and unjustifiable for the 1st and 2nd defendants to exclude the plaintiffs from the processes and proceedings of the Delta State LG elections scheduled for 6th March, 2021, despite the judgement of the Appeal court.
“Also, an order of injunction restraining the 1st Defendant from releasing the register of voters to the 2nd Defendant for the purpose of the conduct of LGA elections unless and until the plaintiffs are relisted into the register of political parties in the state,” Dikadi said.
The judge of has however, fixed hearing on the suit to Thursday, January 28, 2021.
