State govt declares February 23 work free-day for poll
Enugu State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, accused the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) of excluding the party from the February 23, 2022 council election.

It alleged that the ENSIEC deliberately plotted to disenfranchise its members by refusing to publish the list of 260 councillorship and 17 chairmanship candidates it forwarded to the electoral body in December 2021.

Addressing the disenfranchised candidates and other party faithful at the state secretariat in Enugu, state chairman, Ugochukwu Agballah, declared that the party would reject the election if ENSIEC excludes APC from participating in the poll.

“Enugu must rise for democracy to thrive. There is no democracy in Enugu State. It has been a government of cronyism and elitism. The council election will not hold on Wednesday, February 23, but if they go ahead, it will be an exercise in futility,” he said.

Agballah disclosed that the party’s legal team, led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) had already filed a suit at the state High Court to void the election over the exclusion, adding that the issue was a breach of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act.

He accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in the state of conniving with some elements in the APC to manipulate ENSIEC to frustrate the party from participating in the council poll.

Agballah, who received his Certificate of Return (COR) from the national leadership on February 14, 2022, claimed that his emergence as the chairman of the party in the state was causing fear within the ranks of the state government and the PDP, which he accused of having been writing election results in favour of the ruling party where they give themselves 100 per cent victory in previous council polls.

“ENSIEC disenfranchised all our candidates. We had our primaries to elect our chairmanship and councillorship candidates on December 18 and 19, 2021. We submitted the list to ENSIEC, which it accepted. But ENSIEC decided to publish the list submitted by the suspended faction of our party.

Attempts to contact Chairman of the commission, Chief Mike Ajogwu (SAN) failed, but an ENSIEC official told The Guardian that the commission has not breached the law and urged party leaders to put their house in order in their own interest.
MEANWHILE, the state government has declared Wednesday, February 23, 2022, a work-free day to enable residents to participate in the council election.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information, Steve Oruruo, yesterday, disclosed that markets and offices will be closed, while movement of persons, vehicles will be restricted from 8:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. except those on essential duties.