By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

The Senator Modu Sheriff-led Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has launched an investigation to unravel circumstances that led to the party’s defeat in the Delta State constituency, Warri 1 election, last month.

National spokesman of the party, Mr. Bernard Mikko, who spoke to Vanguard in an interview, blamed lack of unity and anti-party activities as among suspected reasons for the loss of the seat to Accord.

Modu Sheriff

In the election held on April 26, Accord came first with 5,546 votes followed by All Progressives Congress, APC, with 2,010 votes and the PDP with 183 votes.

The seat had been held by the PDP since the advent of democratic rule in 1999.

“We are looking at what has happened in Delta State against what has happened before. It happened in the National Assembly and it is happening in the state Assembly and we are investigating it and it is only when we finish the investigation that we will be able to tell you what happened.

“If you go back to history, the same Accord won a seat in the Senate through Senator Osakwe, maybe the same factors played out,” he said.

Asked if the result was not an act of rebellion by the mainstream of the PDP in the state  against the Sheriff-led PDP, Mikko said: “They are not rebelling against our leadership and truly, what happened can happen when the party is not united, especially at the grassroots.”

I agree that the party is not united at the grassroots and that maybe led to the loss. But even when the party was united, Marian Ali lost to Osakwe.”