By Vincent Ujumadu

Awka—THE Anambra Central Assembly, ACA, a nongovernmental organization, has expressed worry over the continued lack of representation of Anambra Central Senatorial zone in the nation’s upper legislative house, saying that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has not been fair to the zone.

Anambra Central is the only zone in the country that has no representation in the senate and the people say it was unfair that while other zones had senators to argue for their areas in terms of budgetary and project allocations, there was nobody to speak for them.

Rising from a meeting in Awka, chairman of ACA, Chief Arinze Ekelem, said what was playing out in the zone portends a very bad omen for the country’s democracy.

Ekelem, who regretted that Anambra Senatorial zone’s seat had continued to be vacant for the greater part of  the life of the 8th  National Assembly, which had gone more than half way, appealed to INEC and other relevant authorities to, as a matter of utmost urgency, conduct the rerun election in the interest of the people of the zone. He said: “INEC is fanning the embers of disunity by denying Anambra Central a representation in the Senate. The way out of this problem is for the electoral umpire to immediately conduct the election to fill the vacant seat to make the zone an integral part of Nigeria.

“Justice delayed is justice denied and that is why we are urging INEC to act fast and stop further political maltreatment of Anambra State.

“The continued delay in filling the Anambra Central senatorial zone’s vacancy smacks of marginalization and intimidation of the South East as it has succeeded in denying the people of the zone their right to equal representation in the country’s highest law –making body.”

Vanguard recalls that INEC had, at the beginning of last year, fixed a date for the rerun election after Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, who was representing the area on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was removed by the Court of Appeal.

However, PDP filed another suit challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal to disqualify it from fielding another candidate to replace Ekwunife, thereby forcing INEC to put the rerun election on hold.