Enugu NASS primary: Aspirant seeks NWC’s urgent action
A former Enugu North Senatorial aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Chinedu Eya has called on the leadership of the PDP, to as a matter of urgency, cancel the just concluded PDP’s primary elections for Udenu/Igboeze North Federal constituency.
Eya said the election, which produced Engr. Atigwe Simon was a sham and fraught with undemocratic tenets.
He, however, said Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi should not be blamed for the alleged imposition of candidates witnessed during the National Assembly primary elections in the State.
Chief Eya, who wondered why an election slated to take place in the broad daylight was manipulated to start by 9 p.m. when the majority of the voters had deserted the venue of the exercise, with armed thugs forcing them to submit their eligibility identification cards, which was eventually used to manipulate the system.
In a statement by his Media aide, Gwiyi Solomon, Chief Eya noted that “only an urgent decision from the PDP leadership can help resuscitate the people’s faith in our Democratic system.”
Chief Eya queried, “How do you describe an election that was conducted in the dead of the night? How do you sustain an election where over 1000 thugs had a field day, forcing delegates to submit their membership cards for manipulation? Our people must condemn this brigandage.”
He hailed Ugwuanyi “for opening up the political space in the State, which gave room for members to express their interest and aspire for various positions,” urging other aggrieved aspirants and their followers to seek redress of their displeasure through the Party’s internal mechanism.
“First of all, I wish to hail Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State for throwing open the political space for the first time in this State. Before now, what we used to have was anointing of candidates to the extent that people were never allowed to even go for primaries.
“For the first time, members of the PDP in Enugu State exercised their voting rights during primary elections.
“However, in every exercise, there must be complaints. But one thing is clear, the Governor Ugwuanyi we all know is a man of peace, lover of democracy and promoter of people’s interest. People should please count him out of any conspiracy in their losses.
“Anybody linking him to manipulation in the just concluded primary is only on a long journey to nowhere,” Eya noted.
