Enugu: Ugwuanyi floors APC’s Ezea

Hon. IfeanyiUgwuanyi, the governorship candidate of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) in Enugu state has been declared the winner ofthe Enugu state governorship election conducted on Saturday, April 11,2015. But his arch rival and candidate of the APC, Barrister OkeyEzea, has petitioned the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, ProfOnukaogu, calling for the cancellation of the election on the basisthat it was marred by several forms of electoral violence.
The results as announced by the state returning officer, Prof HillaryEdeoga states that Hon Ugwuanyi of PDP scored a total of four hundredand eighty two thousand, two hundred and seventy seven [482,277]votes, while his rival Ezea with APC ticket scored a total of fortythree thousand, eight hundred and thirty nine (43839) votes.
According to the state Resident Electoral Officer, Prof ChukwuemekaOnukaogu, Ugwuanyi, the PDP candidate by the virtue of having scoredthe majority of votes cast throughout the 17 council areas of thestate, is declared the winner of the state governorship election.
But in a very swift reaction, the APC governorship candidate in Enugustate, Ezea, and the state chairman of the party, Dr Ben Nwoye saidthe result is not acceptable to the party, alleging that there wereseveral cases of electoral violence recorded throughout the state withmassive electoral fraud in favour of the PDP. He called for totalcancellation of the result and a repeat at a later date.

 
Ezea said while briefing journalists in Enugu that “In the light oftotality of the circumstances, where security apparatus and YouthCorps members received money from PDP and connived in perpetratingelectoral fraud in favour of PDP, the results are not acceptable tome.”
Also Speaking, the state chairman of the APC, Dr Ben Nwoye said hepetitioned the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof Onukaogu asearly as 1am in the morning, after he gathered all the deliberate actsof frauds committed in almost every polling unit in the state, fromAPC polling agents.
He stressed that there are cases where the APC agents were beaten,wounded or chased away by thugs loyal to PDP so as to perfect variousacts of rigging, in the presence of law enforcement agents. And inmany other instances, ballot boxes were snatched, taken away andstuffed with PVC’s from elsewhere.” He also demanded the cancellationand a repeat of the state governorship election.
The APC in Enugu state stressed they must pursue the cause forcancellation of Enugu state governorship election in the tribunal.

Stories by MAURICE OKAFOR, Enugu