Opposition political parties in Delta have accused PDP led state government of blocking the parties from holding rallies in facilities owned and managed by Delta state government.
Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) are among the opposition parties who raised issues against the Delta state government.
The two parties alleged that they filed requests to authorities of Delta state government requesting for permission to use the stadia in Warri, Asaba or Ughelli for their rallies but they were reportedly turned down by men who are in charge of the sports facilities.
Uche Okonji, representative of the ADC and Chuks Erhire of the APC made the allegations during a PVC collection sensitization event held at the conference hall of the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Asaba, the Delta state capital.
Okonji, who expressed bitterness at the development, said his party was blocked by Delta state government authorities from the Stephen Keshi Stadium to flag off their campaign in the state.
He demanded for legal interpretation to the action of the state government and wanted to know the role of INEC in this regard.
Erhire of the APC said the electoral process would be successful only if all parties work in accordance with electoral laws. He said all assets in the state belongs to all Deltans and not to any political party.
“We made application to use Asaba stadium, Warri stadium, Ughelli, but all our applications were turned down by the PDP led government. But PDP at the national used federal government facilities to do their declaration and convention in Abuja and nobody blocked them.
“No one has monopoly of violence. They have no right to deny us the use of state facilities. This action is a recipe for crisis and disaster as we move towards the election.”
Godwin Anaughe, the APC director of strategy and elections for the Delta APC campaign council, said to resolve the issue of venues for rallies, INEC could write to state government authorities and appeal to them to allow other parties use state facilities for rallies. He said the facilities are not owned by PDP but Delta state government.
INEC head of legal department, ..read out the section of the electoral act guiding campaigns and use of venues. According to her, the act provides that no one should be prevented from holding rallies. She, however, said when issues arise the police should be contacted for mediatory roles.
She added that while the commission will do its best to ensure rancour free rallies, it should be noted that INEC is not a security agency and does not have powers to prevail on government authorities. She noted that only appeals could be made for ruling parties to allow others use state facilities.
A chieftain of the PDP who represented the party at the event, Prinewill Onoduafin, appealed to the opposition parties not to resort to violence on the issue of venue but rather take to dialogue as the best option.
He said anybody could win the election, hence parties should toe the path of peace and dialogue when issues of such nature arise in the state.
