THE Coalition of Registered Political Parties (CRPP) in Enugu State has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of last Saturday Governorship/ State House of Assembly elections, saying the polls were free, fair, transparent and peaceful in the state.
Addressing a press conference in Enugu on Tuesday, the State Coordinator of the CRPP, John Nwobodo, said, “Beyond a shadow of doubt, the governorship election is the best and freest election ever conducted in Enugu State since the return to democratic governance in 1999”
“The Coalition notes that the peaceful political environment before, during and after the election was possible due to the peace and security architecture put in place by the Executive Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency Rt. Hon. Dr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi”
“At this juncture, we most heartily congratulate His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Dr Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi the Executive Governor of Enugu State and Governor-Elect for his landslide victory at the poll, winning a well deserved second term in office”.
The Coalition is made up of 70 political parties that adopted Ugwuanyi few weeks to the general elections.
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Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it might seek legal redress on false allegations levelled against the commission and security agencies during the conduct of the general elections in the State.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Enugu State, Dr Emeka Ononamadu, stated this during the post 2019 General Elections media briefing held on Tuesday in Enugu.
Dr Ononamadu decried political rascality displayed by some political groups and political gladiators during the elections in the state.
“During the conduct of the election, certain political groups effortlessly tried to falsely label INEC, Security agencies and Central Bank of Nigeria in their attempt to find one way or another to scuttle the electoral process.
“But the maturity exhibited by citizens (electorate) of the state was enough to send their plans to the cleaners,’’ he said.
According to him, “I am also studying those wild allegations for possibilities of seeking court redress because it is not only
politicians that can always take INEC to court, INEC and its staff equally have a name to protect.
“We are not going to tolerate reckless allegations that cast aspersions on our democracy and the electoral process.
“We are moving towards a direction when nobody will get away with any unsubstantiated allegation that robs off on the credibility of an election,’’ he said.
He also announced that all elections leading to all contestable positions in Enugu State had been successfully completed, adding there is no election either at the federal or state level that is outstanding’’.
“While we had teething logistics challenge during the Presidential election, we overcame all of those challenges during the governorship
election and became the first state that has all 4,145 polling location to open before 8 a.m. on the Election Day.
“The only snag which I did not know why the main reason was the voters apathy which saw less than half a million voters to vote out of the 1.9 million registered voters and over N1.7 million voters with PVCs,’’ he said.
He commended the electorate, traditional rulers, security agencies, National Youth Service Corps, media, civil society organizations, political parties, management and staff of INEC for their support during the elections.
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