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Chief Frank Nweke, Jr who is the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the March 18 governorship election in Enugu State, has rejected the result of the election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Peter Mbah, as the winner of the election and governor-elect.
Nweke, a former Minister of Information, who spoke at a press conference in Enugu on Friday, described the governorship and House of Assembly elections as an assault on democracy, insisting that they were not free, fair, and credible.
He alleged that the election was characterised by violence, thuggery, intimidation, the use of divisive sentiments, and the weaponisation of poverty against the people.
‘In Nsukka, voters recorded and reported gunshots at polling units allegedly instigated by a political party.
‘The most vulnerable and impoverished became prey to vote buying by some political parties with as little as N500 or packets of noodles in some places.
‘At Udenu, parties competed for the votes of our people with N2,000, a plate of Jollof rice, Okpa, and a bottle of soda. I feel ashamed that this is what our people are worth to some who seek to lead them,’ he was quoted by the News Agency of Nigeria as saying.
The Labour Party candidate in the last governorship election in Enugu State, Hon. Chijioke Edeoga, has commended the Enugu people for voting overwhelmingly for transformational change in the February 25 and March 18, 2023, elections, ‘despite the determination of a handful of inelegant elements to change the course of history,’ even as he promised to retrieve his stolen mandate.
Hon. Edeoga, who lost to Mr. Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Enugu State governorship election, said apart from winning majority votes in the presidential election, the support of the Enugu electorate also made the Labour Party win seven of the eight federal constituencies in the state and two of the three senatorial seats.
