Delta central poll: 19 party chairmen back out of protest against results

The clash of interest rocking the just-held senatorial bye-election in Delta State has assumed a new twist.
Few minutes ago, 19 chairmen of registered political parties in oil rich state thumbed up the outcome of the election, commending the Independent National Electoral Commission for the conduct of a transparent, free and fair election.
There were voices of dissent immediately INEC announced Hon. Emmanuel Aguariavwodo of the Peoples Democratic Party, who polled 263,024, to beat O’tega Emerhor of the All Progressive Congress with 29,075 votes, Ede Definone of the Democratic Peoples Party with 29,055 and Barrister Andy Osawota of the Labour Party with 1,602.
Speaking in Asaba, the state capital, the state Chairman of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Paul Isamade, flanked by Prince Jude H.E. Eze (KOWA), Ogbueshi Tony Eboka (APGA), Chief Nelly Nwaka (Action Alliance) and 15 others, said after the emergency meeting of the chairmen, the group lauded the exemplary conduct as shown to the world by INEC and other stakeholders in the election.
In a three-page statement, dated October 12, 2013, co-signed by the 19 party chairmen, and made available to The Eagle Online, the party chairmen hailed the security agents, including election monitors/observers, both local and international, especially the USAID election monitors, “for providing the enabling environment for voting to take place” and “recording the actual proceedings of the election.”
On the strength of the above, the chairmen called on all the parties that participated in the exercise to “unconditionally accept the results as announced by INEC”, without heating up the political space.
The Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Chief Tony Eboka, whose candidate, Olorogun Omoru David, scored a handful of votes, discredited him on the ground of anti-party activities.
According to him, “Omoru-David”, who before the election raised the alarm about arms build up in Orogun, his home-town and the constituency of PDP’s Aguariavwodo, and who shortly after the election threatened to seek redress in court, after alleging that he has overwhelming proofs to nail the PDP, “did not campaign for the election neither did he win the election, we are even contemplating his suspension for all the anti-party activities he committed.”
While the chairmen commended Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan for “his role in enduring a safe and unbiased conduct of the most transparent, free and fair election in our recent history”, they advised all aggrieved losers to seek redress in court, stop being confrontational and taking the law into their hands.
This came barely 24 hours after four Civil Society Organizations, including the Centre for Strategy Ethics and Value, Justice and Equity and the African Initiative for Sustainable and Positive Development, condemned the protest against the election by the losers and appealed to them accept their defeat in good fate.
The PDP’s state chairman, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, had also lambasted the losers for seeking redress in an uncivilized manner, saying: “We have read and heard the comments of some of the defeated candidates and their parties so far on the just concluded election, but as the Igbo adage goes, ‘you cannot beat a child and deny him the right to cry’, yes you can cry for the beating or thrashing just like we African people were crying during the colonial rule in Africa and our experienced fathers kept telling us ‘weep not child.
“The law is clear, nobody can annul an election once concluded except the courts. He should channel all his grievances to the court or tribunal, which will soon be set up and we shall meet him and his party there squarely.”