APC seeks nullification of presidential, legislative polls in Enugu

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu has called for the cancellation of the presidential and national assembly elections, which held at the weekend in the state.

It therefore called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to “prosecute all those who contributed in undermining the integrity of the process in the state.”

Although the official announcement of the results were yet to be made at the time of filing this report, candidates of the party for the polls, led by the state chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye, and the governorship candidate, Ayogu Eze, yesterday stormed the INEC office on Independence Layout with a protest letter alleging manipulation of the exercise in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Nwoye, who read the prepared statement before handing it over to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Emeka Ononamadu, claimed several “irregularities that bordered on vote buying, thuggery, use of fake result sheets, compromised collation officers and overshooting of the results of the election against the number of accredited voters in the card readers among others as responsible for their protest.”

He had wondered why the commission could not announce any single result as at 3.00p.m. yesterday, about 24 hours after the conclusion of the elections, alleging that the delay was borne out of the need to “perfect the anomalies that went on during the exercise.”

The party accused INEC officials and ad hoc staff in the local governments of “conniving with the PDP to undermine the elections and therefore should be prosecuted.”

According to the APC, “fake ad hoc staff were used at various polling units. And the uneducated voters were meant to vote for PDP against the APC.”

On the contrary, observers have hailed the conduct of the exercise as peaceful, transparent, free and fair.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday in Enugu, Coordinator of the Domestic Observer Team, Samuel Onoja, stated that reports from his members in parts of the state indicated that the elections were devoid of violence.

He hinted that the team was deployed to the 260 wards of the state for the weekend’s polls, stressing that he was happy with the turnout of voters and the support for the hitch-free exercise.

Onoja, who hailed “Enugu elections as most peaceful in the country, urged the INEC to keep the tempo in the interest of the country and democracy.