Delta 2019: An Analysis on How PDP Defeated APC in Ughelli Ward 3/7
By Martina Enwefa
UGHELLI/Nigeria: The 2019 Governorship and State Assembly Elections in Delta state had shown that politics in the state despite the often associated violence is getting the accolades required that politics is a contest, which those who understands the effect of grassroots politics.
This assertion can be said of Ughelli North local government, where since inception of the recent democracy the ruling party had never won any ward during polls in General Elections.
During the last Saturday election, the PDP in Ughelli North LGA performed brilliantly beating the APC hands down in ward 3/7
An analysis of the performance of the party in the ward indicates that the PDP trounced the APC despite the fact that Ughelli North LGA is the traditional home of opposition in Delta state and a place that the PDP has not won since the advent of the present day democratic dispensation (1999-date).
The performance of ward 3/7 in the March 9, election is considered even more remarkable because it is the only ward in Ughelli North LGA, where the PDP won convincingly as the tsunami of the APC broom swept the other nine wards in the local government area except Uwheru ward 09, in which PDP secured 54 per cent of the votes casted compared to APC’s 46 per cent in the Governorship election and 52 to 48 per cent of votes casted for the House of Assembly seat.
Ward 3/7 falls within the delineation of Ughelli constituency 2, which comprises Ughelli ward 1-5, 2-6 and 3-7 spread among: Ughelli township, Agbarho, Uwheru and Afiesere axis. Besides ward 3/7, PDP lost both Governorship and House of Assembly elections in the other wards.
Specifically, Ughelli ward 3/7 has 17 Polling Units (PU) spread over Ogbovwan, Afiesere, Ohwaro, Ododegho, Ujode and Eruemukowharien communities.
Despite the cancellation of votes in four PDP strong hold polling units, for the House of Assembly (Ughelli Constituency 2) election, in ward 3/7, the PDP polled a total of 2,159 votes (61.8 per cent) while the APC polled a total of 1,337 votes (38.2 per cent). And for the governorship election, the PDP polled 2,245 votes (62.1 per cent) and APC polled 1,373 votes (37.9).
Sources attributed the brilliant performance of the PDP in Ughelli ward 3/7 to the influence of the Commissioner of Finance, Olorogun David Edevbie, a native of Afiesere whose positive impact on indigenes of the communities in the ward dwarfed those of the over bearing influence of the multitude of the APC members and leaders in the area.
Like they say in common parlance, all politics is local and from the performance of the PDP in ward 3/7 in the March 9 Governorship and House of Assembly election Olorogun David Edevbie has proven once again that he is very much in touch with the grassroots in his locality.
