…2019 Positive signals for the party in Enugu

By Dennis Agbo

It was predicated even before the polls, that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would triumph over the opposition political parties in the Enugu state local government council elections conducted last Saturday.

Different reasons informed the predication. One was that going by antecedents, incumbent political parties would always sweep local government elections in respective states. The total overrun by the PDP winning the 17 chairmanship seats and 258 out of 260 ward councillors was made easier by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s good governance in the state.

PDP

To buttress Ugwuanyi’s undivided acceptance in the state, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and former Governor of old Anambra state, Senator Jim Nwobodo despite his party affiliation went to pour encomiums at Ugwuanyi when the Governor went for PDP campaign in Enugu South local government area.

Nwobodo said that Ugwuanyi had united politicians of different political party divides in the state which was reason he defiled his party affiliation to express appreciation at the homestead of the traditional ruler of Amechi-Akwunanwu where the Governor was received.

Prior to the election, a  network of Civil Society Organizations gave pass mark to the preparedness for conduct of the election. The group led by Comrade Victor Kalu said they observed that the state government provided necessary logistic supports to the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission, ENSIEC, to ensure a transparent, violence-free, fair and credible local government election in the state, without any form of interference with the operations of the election management body.

The group also said it noted that  ENSIEC was resolute, transparent and committed to conducting a credible poll; hence the umpire provided level playing ground for all the political parties in the state.

Kalu said “We observed that for the first time in the history of the state, strong and formidable opposition parties were seriously campaigning and mobilising to challenge the ruling party in Enugu state at the polls. This has made the election very interesting.”

On the election day, two Improvised Explosive Devices, IED, went off in two different locations near polling units in Enugu south and Enugu north council areas. That however did not deter the election as Governor Ugwuanyi voted at his Amube-Orba ward 2 pulling unit by 11. 39 am.

As usual with Nigerian elections there were some protests, particularly from the APC which   called for cancellation of the election. The party in a petition addressed to the chairman of ENSIC, Dr. Mike Ajogwu, accused the electoral body of compromise.

State chairman of APC, Dr. Ben Nwoye accused ENSIEC of giving undue advantage to the PDP during the election. The APC also accused ENSIEC of giving result sheets to agents, members and candidates of PDP and so rejected the outcome of the election.

But a group of 35 registered political parties in the state urged losers in the election to express their grievances in accordance with the electoral law of the state by approaching the local government election tribunal to ventilate their dissatisfaction, if any.

Leader of the 35 political parties and chairman of Social Democratic Party, SDP, Mr. John Nwobodo said that even though they noted late arrival of electoral materials in some places, the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission, ENSIEC, took immediate steps to remedy the challenge.

Nwobodo said “There were few skirmishes yet these incidents were too infinitesimal and not widespread or substantial to effect the outcome of the election.” The group commended ENSIEC for its neutrality and impartiality throughout the period beginning with the issuance of notice of election on August 1, 2017.

They said that Governor Ugwuanyi gave all needed support and funding to the ENSIEC to discharge its constitutional mandate without any interference and commended the Governor for the magnanimity.

Adding to confirmation of the good conduct of the election, the civil societies group that observed the election gave commendation to ENSIEC for what it said was a “wonderful preparation in providing all the needed logistics and materials on time which actually encouraged the success of the election.”

In its report after the election, the election observers said the election was calm, peaceful, orderly and of course transparent without any unlawful interference, “though there were reported cases of complaints in some Local Government Areas as a result of late arrival of election materials.”

According to the observers, “We observed that ENSIEC was very careful to make available all the election materials both sensitive and non-sensitive to their polling units in good time, although there were reports of late arrival of election materials in some places like Oji River, Udi, Enugu South, which resulted in late commencement of elections in the areas.

Governor Ugwuanyi’s Senior Special Assistant (Intergovernmental and Electoral Process), Mr. Vincent Obetta said that “the success recorded in the election was a clear demonstration that democracy has come to stay in the state and that

the people have accepted the PDP led government of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to

lead them to the promised land.”

It is also largely believed that PDP swept the polls going by its stronghold of the state which it had maintained since 1999. In addition to that is the widespread belief that Governor Ugwuanyi’s two and a half years in office have returned smiles in the faces of the people of the state through the government’s empowerment and infrastructural provision programmes.

He pays salaries as at when due and he is generally known as a man of peace. The victory appears an indication of how 2019 elections could play out in the state.