Barely 48 hours to the Delta State gubernatorial re-run election, the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ughelli, Ughelli north local government area, was yesterday razed down by suspected militants in the state.
The blast, which occurred some few hours to the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the city of Warri, for the rally of the People Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the re-run, Emmanuel Uduaghan, was reported to have left three persons injured and the office building burnt.
The office, located along the Post Officer Road, Ughelli, was set ablaze about 1am by a group which threatened to attack more INEC facilities if it failed to conduct a credible rerun election.
The suspected attackers said they were members of the ‘freedom fighting strike’ squad of ‘Delta Democratic Militia’ domiciled in the state.
INEC had earlier warned politicians that it would not conduct election in any local government council where its office is attacked.
But the militant group, which claimed responsibility for the bombing, yesterday warned the Federal Government against using INEC to favour some candidates against the other, stressing that any attempt to manipulate the votes on Thursday would trigger danger.
Spokesman of the group, ‘Lieutenant’ Tamuno Labutua, in a text message yesterday to journalists said: “This is a serious warning to INEC, security agencies, and political parties that election rigging of all kinds shall no longer be tolerated in Delta State.
“We wish to make it abundantly clear that only a free, fair, and credible election will be acceptable to Deltans. Only a governor that emerges by popular votes will govern Delta State. Deltans must be ready to defend their votes and make Delta great,” the text message said.
The police public relations officer in the state, Charles Muka, confirmed the incident and said that no life was lost. He could, however, not confirm the cause of the inferno, but said that the security guard on duty in the office at the time of the incident has been arrested.
Also, the INEC public affairs officer in Delta State, Livvy Unigwe, confirmed the incident.
Unhappy Ijaw
The bombing came barely one day after the Ijaws in Delta warned of an impending crisis if the Independence National Electoral Commission (INEC) goes ahead with the re-run election without first conducting a fresh voters register.
They say that more than 80% of Ijaws, mostly from Warri South West, Warri North, Burutu, Bomadi, and Patani local government areas were not able to cast their votes as there was no voters register in the 2007 election that was annulled last November by the court of Appeal sitting in Benin City.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Denbo-Dembola Oweikpodor said the Ijaw reject the January 6th re-run election in the state because the failure of INEC to conduct a fresh voters’ register is a calculated attempt to stop the people in Delta State from exercising their voting rights and the right to vote the candidate of their choice.
He also cited a pending court case in which a group of Deltans has gone to court to compel INEC to conduct voters registration and compilation of voters register before the conduct of the election.