REVEALED! Okowa Moves To Lay Off DSIEC Board; To Handover Councils To HPMs After Payment Of N125million For The Gesture

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State is set to sack the Chairman and board members of the State Independent Electoral Commission (DSIEC), constituted by his predecessor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan to enable him appoint his trusted allies, BigPen Online can authoritatively report.

The governor, it was gathered wants to plant his men in DSIEC, handover the councils to Head of Personnel Management, HPMs whom would manage the council pending the conduct of local government election sometime in April, 2018. Governor Okowa had earlier said he would never run the councils with Caretaker Committees.

BigPen Online can authoritatively report that with this development, there would be no Council Election in the state this year contrary to claims by the DSIEC’s Chairman, Mr. Moses Ogbe that they were preparing to conduct the council elections.

It was gathered that already, the Governor had allegedly appointed a Secretary secretly for DSIEC in preparation for the lay off of the board which has a statutory five years tenure which ought to terminate next year.

Sources revealed that Ogbe and others would be ‘settle’ with their severance packages paid in full so that Okowa can appoint his men, whom may be announce sometime on or before December 2017 and would be responsible for the conduct of the council election in 2018.

Dependable sources told BigPen Online that for the meantime, Governor Okowa would handover the councils to the HPMs whom have been directed to provide N5million each totally N125million across the 25 Local Government Councils in appreciation for the gesture at the expiration of the tenure of the elected council Chairmen.

A Government House source allegedly fingered the Principal Secretary to the governor, Mr. Hilary Ibegbulem as being the one who directed the councils HPMs to provide the N125million in appreciation for the gesture which a constituted Caretaker Committee could have taken.

One Commissioner in DSIEC who pleaded anonymity told BigPen Online, “Going by the electoral calendar, the tenure of elected political office holders at the local government level in Delta state will expires in October.

“They have less than four months in their various offices. And by the Electoral Laws, DSIEC with the mandate of Governor Okowa ought to have release timetable for the conduct of the Council Elections.

“As for us in DSIEC, our tenure is supposed to expire next year because it is a statutory commission but as it is now the Governor doesn’t want us to conduct the election. The governor want a DSIEC that he personally appoint its members to conduct the election in 2018.

“The reason is that Okowa has no single trust, confidence in Ogbe-led DSIEC. Forget whatever they have been saying about the Council election.

“Okowa is not holding Council election now, period! But that is not the main issue.

“The main issue on ground now is that the Ogbe-led DSIEC supposed to end its tenure next year because of course you know it is a statutory commission that cannot be sack like that but trust politicians, the governor has concluded arrangements to settle us with money out of office so that he can begin the process of appointing his own loyalists”.

All efforts to reach Mr, Ogbe proved abortive as at press time, however a close associate of Ibegbelem dismissed the allegations saying merely ‘it is not true’.

The source claimed that the Governor has not found the DSIEC boss and others wanting to warrant their sack, dismissing as unfounded claims that Governor Okowa want to plant his men in the State Electoral body.