Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State have dared the major opponent, the People’s Democratic Party, to rig the local government election scheduled to hold in the state on November 4.
The APC stalwarts gave the warning at the flag-off of the party’s campaigns at Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, Ogrute and Agbani in Nkanu West Local Government at weekend.
Speaking at the events, the state Chairman of the party, Dr Ben Nwoye said that the APC has shown good intent to provide good leadership.
He noted that the large crowd of people at the APC campaign flag-off at Igboeze North LGA, and Udenu, which is Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s home council, showed that the people are tired of the PDP and their failed promises in the state.
Nwoye, therefore, declared that the APC “would not accept anything short of a free, fair, credible and transparent election, devoid of any form of manipulation or rigging by PDP or ENSIEC.”
He also noted that it would be the first time since 1999 that the PDP chairmanship or councillorship candidate would be returned unopposed as APC has fielded candidates for the 17 chairmanships and 260 councillorship seats available in the state.
The Enugu APC boss said that the PDP lacks strategy and only relies on propaganda by telling the people not to come out on
November 4 to vote on grounds that the results have already been written in favour of the PDP candidates.
Nwoye said that the APC would be holding Governor Ugwuanyi to his words as he had promised that he would not interfere in the election in favour of any PDP candidate.
“I am happy that Governor Ugwuanyi told his PDP candidates to go and campaign. We believe every word from his mouth. If he has written results, he will not be campaigning. I believe he is a democrat, I believe he will not interfere,” Nwoye said.
Similarly, a former governorship candidate of the APC in the state, Chief Okey Eze, in his speech at Igbo-eze North, maintained that the elections must follow the rules according to the Electoral Act, beginning “from distribution of electoral materials at ENSIEC to the polling stations, collations of results to the point where the results would be declared.
“If they do not want to hold the election, let them not hold it. But if they want to hold it, it must comply with the Electoral Act.”
Also the Chairman of the APC in Rivers State, Dr Davies Ibiamu, who represented the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun at the Nkanu West rally advised the people of Enugu State to reject the PDP and vote for the APC.
He urged them to vote for everybody on the ticket of APC, saying this would ensure that when they come back, they would say their journey was not in vain.
Other notable party chieftains who attended the rallies include, the former Speaker of House of Assembly, Eugene Odo, the Zonal Chairman for Enugu East senatorial zone, Chief Anike Nwoga and his Enugu West counterpart, Iyke Omenkukwu, among others.