Rep Raises Alarm Over Declining Number Of Voters In Delta Central

Member representing Ughelli North, Ughelli South and Udu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Francis Waive, has expressed deep concern over the declining number of voters in Delta Central Senatorial District.

Delta Central once accounted for about 60 per cent of total votes in Delta State when the state was created in 1991.

Speaking at the Delta Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Leaders and Stakeholders Meeting held at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Conference Centre, Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area, the federal lawmaker warned that the trend posed a serious threat to the political relevance of the region.

Waive, who is chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, lamented that the voters’ figure in the senatorial district has dropped drastically to about 30 percent.

The lawmaker, visibly worried about the statistics, said some local governments that produced over 50,000 votes in past election cycles now struggle to achieve significantly lower numbers. “Something is going wrong,” he declared.

“If we, the current political leaders, fail to act, our population will continue to shrink. Another census is coming, but even more urgent is the ongoing voter registration.”

Waive urged political leaders across Delta Central to take responsibility for reversing the downward trend by aggressively mobilising eligible voters to register in the ongoing Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) voter registration exercise.

According to him, failure to act now could lead future generations to describe today’s leaders in Urhobo land as “political eunuchs”, a reputation he insisted must be avoided at all costs.

He emphasised that every young adult aged 18 and above must be encouraged to register, adding that indigenes living outside the state should also be encouraged to return home to register.

The federal lawmaker stressed that political strength is directly tied to the number of voters, noting that electoral manipulation has limits when people register to vote.

“Even if you want to rig an election, you can only rig to the extent of the number of registered voters you have. If your unit has only 100 registered voters, then 100 is your maximum,” he said.

Waive urged leaders to take the mobilisation campaign to every ward, unit and community, noting that the level of victory for the APC presidential and governorship candidates in Delta Central is what will ultimately determine the district’s influence both in the state and at the federal levels.

He assured party faithful that the APC is poised for victory, but warned that without strong numbers from Delta Central, the district would lose its pride of place in state and national politics.