Although there were pockets of incidents and irregularities across the state, there was enthusiasm on the part of the electorate in Delta North who came to the polling units on time for accreditation and voting.
One ad hoc staff of the state electoral body was, however, feared dead at a polling unit in Onicha-Ugbo, home of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, who confirmed the incident, said the man slumped.
Delta State governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, voted in his village at Omi Primary School, Ward 03, unit 03, Owa-Alero in Ika North East council area at 10:05 am, which recorded a large turnout of voters.
He told reporters shortly after casting his vote that he was impressed with the arrangement by DSIEC as materials were delivered on time to various polling units in the state.
He, however, lamented the burning down of DSIEC office in Ughelli by some youths, and the security that held back officials conveying materials to Ndokwa council.
According to him, he had requested a report from security operatives on the arson at Ughelli.
Reports from Igbodo in Ika North East where Sunday Tribune also monitored revealed that two persons were allegedly arrested with guns, ostensibly trying to disrupt the election.
There were cases of non-provision of ballot booklets in Ogwashi-Uku and Ubulu-Uku in Aniocha South, while at Nsukwa and Ejeme axis of the council, the returning officer and some polling agents were nowhere to be found.
A leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Hyacinth Enuha, in his remarks, said: “The election in Aniocha South is below acceptable standard, as most people who turned out for voting could not find their names on the voters’ register.”
But the chairmanship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Candidate (PDP) in the local government, Isaac Anwuzia, said the election was peaceful and that the issue of materials that arrived late was resolved before voting commenced.
On his part, a former national deputy chairman of the PDP and now chieftain of the APC, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, said, the election in the state was a fraud, and that election did not hold in many polling units.
While blaming the state governor for allegedly instigating his perceived irregularities, Ojougboh called on the state House of Assembly to commence the impeachment process of Governor Okowa, who is his kinsman.
In Ofagbe Ward 07, Isoko North Local Government Area, a member of the APC told Sunday Tribune that there was no voting as at 2pm, because the materials that were deployed were meant for another ward in the locality.
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