Ben Ezechime, Enugu
As the rumour of Transition Committee for the 17 local government councils in Enugu State by the Dr Peter Mbah-led administration continues to gather momentum, an Accord Party Chieftain in the state, Barrister John Nwobodo has threatened lawsuit if that happens.
In a telephone interview, the legal practitioner and politician said the party would not take it lightly if there was any attempt to circumvent the law by the Peter Mbah-led administration in the state.
He said that the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) was supposed to be an independent body.
“Constitutionally, ENSIEC is an independent body; unfortunately, they are independent on paper because they are not financially iñdepebdent. It relies on the state government for funding. And that is where the government seems to be pulling the strings,” he said.
Nwobodo, who was the Governorship candidate of Accord party in the 2023 gubernatorial election said the administration of former governor Sullivan Chime (2007-2015), consistently funded the commission “and they were able to conduct council elections as and when due.”
According to him: “If this government fails to conduct council elections then it is very unfortunate and in that regard what is required of us to do is a matter of law.”
He accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in the state of nursing a hidden agenda since they are an interested party in the election.
“One may read some political undertones to the whole thing; maybe they want to make sure that they are fully in charge.
“As it stands the body language of ENSIEC suggests that they are financially handicapped and cannot conduct any election.
“I am aware that some political parties informed them of their primaries as outlined in their timetable and they were nowhere near the venues of the primaries.
“So far a number of political parties’ candidates have applied for form EC7 and EC 8 to be issued to them but none has been issued, suggesting that, perhaps they don’t have or they may have been cowed into submission by the government.
“On our part, we will definitely go to court to compel the commission to do what is required of them, but in the event that they decided to toe the government line, my party will challenge them in Court,” Nwobodo said.
Also speaking, Barrister Onuora Odo, state Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, said they were the only party that had fulfilled ENSIEC requirements for the election.
“As it is now, LP is the only party that has completed their primaries in the state.
“It is only our party that complied with the guidelines in terms of primaries; so, invariably every other political party did not comply,” Odo said.
He, however, said it was difficult to believe that the election would hold as scheduled going by the inactivity of the commission.
“The body language of the state government and ENSIEC suggests that they are not ready to conduct any election,” he said.
However, the Commissioner for Information and Communication in the state, Aka Eze Aka, has described the rumours as mere panick measures by overzealous politicians.
He said: ” I think it’s just a build up anxiety. People should have patience, if the election is not going to hold it will be made known,” he said.
The commissioner blamed desperate politicians for the rumour mill, asking them to exercise patience.
“Some people who want to contest the election are becoming too anxious and desperate.
“Let them exercise patience,” Aka said.
On whether Gov. Peter Mbah-led administration has any plan to shift the forthcoming election slated for February 24, the commissioner said: “I wouldn’t be saying yes or no, but I will ask for patience.
“People should stop panicking over whether the election will be conducted or not, at the appropriate time, the government will do the needful.”
