Loading ...From Ogbonna Casmir, Enugu
Crisis is brewing in Enugu state chapter of Inter- Party Advisory Committee IPAC as two factional chairmen emerged at the end of its election amid protest by contestants, over alleged irregularitis and manipulation of the exercise by the Immediate past chairman of the body in the state, Mr John Nwobodo.
The controversial election which took place at the Enugu state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, yesterday was earlier sheduled for 10 am, but started around 4 pm, following the protest which almost marred the poll.
IPAC, is the umbrella body of all registered political parties in Nigeria.
Some of the aggrieved contestants, especially chairmen, from various political parties, had accused Nwobodo, who is also the Special Assistant (SA) to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on inter party Affairs and state chairman of Social Democratic Party (SDP) of conniving with the ruling Peoples Democratic party (PDP) in the state to manipulate the process.
However, at the end of the exercise, National chairman of Democratic Alternative (DA), Prince Frank Ukonga, who supervised the election, declared Mr. Godwin Oke, of Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), as winner of the chairmanship position, while the position of Secretary went to Mr. Manifest Nnamani of Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN).
Immediately after the announcement of Oke as the winner, all the aggrieved chairmen declared Mr. Sunday Onyeishi, of New Nigeria Peoples party (NNPP), as their factional chairman, even as they threatened to challenge the outcome of the exercise in law court.
Addressing newsmen on behalf of other contestants, a Secretaryship candidate, and Enugu state chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Ben Nwoye, said “what happened today in the name of IPAC election is laughable, and it is crystal clear that it is masterminded by the PDP which is Nwobodo’s pay master.
Nwoye, who equally described the exercise as a “huge joke, and mockery of an election”, alleged that the out gone state chairman of the association, smuggled names of non members of political parties into the contestants lists .
According to him, “the most funny thing is that most of these people who Nwobodo smulguled their names into the lists, don’t even know names of the National chairmen of their respective parties or their party acronym’s yet, they claimed to be members of such parties.
“Before this election today, only about 40 political parties exist in the state, out of the registered 91, but surprisingly, over 80 parties participated in this charade called election.
“How can you called this an election, where an average of 35 votes out of 80 were declared invalid so, what we have in Enugu state is nothing but, PDP IPAC,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nwbodo, denied any wrong doing, institing that the election was free, fair and credible, advising the aggrieved members to seek redress in court.
