By-Elelction: Tension In Enugu South As PDP Protests Moves By Minister To Hijack Processes
Palpable tension and fear have gripped residents of Enugu South As PDP loyalists stormed the polling units protesting moves by Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Uche Nnaji, tried to Hijack the rerun election.
The development in Enugu South Urban State Constituency led to chaos on Saturday as voting failed to commence for the fourth consecutive time despite the presence of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The election, scheduled to start by 8 am., was stalled amid protests, allegations of intimidation, and counter-accusations among political parties.
INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Enugu State, Chukwuemeka Chukwu, confirmed that men and materials were deployed as early as 7am but the process could not take off.
“People are not voting because some groups are carrying placards, while others who are not supposed to be here have invaded the polling area. This is the fourth time we are here for this rerun, and it is abnormal,” Chukwu said. “We are pleading that they should allow us to perform our statutory functions and let the electorate vote.”
At the centre of the controversy were rival party leaders trading accusations of intimidation and disruption.
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Uche Nnaji, who served as an APC polling unit agent, accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of mobilising hoodlums to frustrate the rerun.
“The election was supposed to have started. You can see there are many hoodlums from PDP trying to scare people from voting,” he said. “We don’t want chaos because they would capitalize on that to insist that the election should not hold. If they don’t finish today, we will stay here until tomorrow.”
But the PDP candidate, Sam Ngene, countered, alleging that Nnaji’s presence and the large number of his supporters created fear among voters.
“This is my ward and my strong base. But the minister is here with mammoth youths to intimidate voters,” Ngene claimed.
