Opposition shuns Enugu LG poll

Local government elections in Enugu State held on Saturday in only two council areas of the state, as 15 out of 17 Peoples Democratic Party chairmanship candidates were returned due to non-opposition.The elections held only in Awgu and Isi-Uzo LGAs where there were opposition candidates contesting against those of the PDP, while yes-vote system was adopted in the other 15 local government areas, which witnessed the councillorship elections. Our correspondent observed that the exercise held amidst voter apathy in some areas. SUNDAY PUNCH, however, gathered that there were reports of intimidation of opposition political parties, which culminated in the low turnout of the electorate. Chairmanship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance for Isi-Uzo, Mr. Nathan Okechukwu, alleged that the commissioners and house of assembly members from the area shared money to youths who descended on APGA members with the help of security agents. Youths in Enuagu-Amuri ward, in Nkanu-West LGA, also told SUNDAY PUNCH that about five trucks of police officers, including the local government Chairman, Mr. Ekene Okenwa, relocated to the voting venue because a councillorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria was purportedly leading before collation. In Nkanu East LGA, voting was peaceful, as the unopposed chairmanship candidate of the PDP, Sam Iyiogwe, was returned. Iyiogwe, who spoke after the elections, described the exercise as peaceful and transparent. "You can see that in the new Enugu State, just as it happened in the general elections in April 2011, there is now orderliness in our electoral process," he said.Meanwhile, the Appeal Court sitting in Jos has dismissed an appeal filed by the Labour Party governorship candidate in the April 26, 2011 general election in Plateau, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, against the judgment of the election petition tribunal, which dismissed her petition against the election of Governor Jonah Jang of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Click here to read full news..