ANSIEC Members Risk Jail Over Published Lists of Anambra LG Election Candidates’ Names – LP

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By Mmaduabuchi Onwumelu

The Labour Party, LP, Anambra State Chapter today, Saturday, 14th September 2024, says that members of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), may go behind bars over the published lists of candidates of the party for Anambra State Local Government (LG) election, insisting they have no flag bearers for the exercise.

The Party through the Publicity Secretary of the party, Engr. Theo Egbe accused the umpire of acting out a script.

ANSIEC had on Friday published lists of candidates of various political parties for the poll which showed that LP, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), and New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) were among the contending parties across the 21 Council Areas.

But the State Chairman of LP, Chief Ugochukwu Emeh, at a press conference held in Awka, Anambra State capital, explained that neither himself nor the State Secretary signed or submitted lists of nominated candidates of the party to the ANSIEC for both Councillor and Chairmanship positions.

According to Emeh, the Labour party was surprised over the latest development having boycotted the election since inception due to some observed illegalities in the process, and had never bothered to sale nomination or expression of interest forms, or to conduct party primary.

Contributing, the State Publicity Secretary of Labour Party, Engr. Theo Chuddy Egbe, recalled that LP had in a suit no. A/265/2024 Labour Party vs Anambra State House of Assembly and ANOR pending at State High Court, expressed total lack of faith, trust and confidence in both ANSIEC and “the shabby illegal process they adopted, for being at complete variance with due process and the Electoral Act, 2022.”

Egbe added that ‘A careful perusal of the commission list of these fangled labour party candidates reveals that the names belong to known members of defeated Soludo faction of APGA, including the name of a current APGA transition Chairman, Ọrumba South North LGA, Mr Nwafor Chinonso Charlesmary Casimir and that of both past and current transition councillors of APGA extraction.

“Labour party views this conduct of Ansiec and Anambra State government as a criminal assault on due process and a rape of the electoral laws of the land, as well as unwarranted provocation of the law abiding members of labour party at large.”

On his part, the State Secretary of the party, Barr Chibunna Okoli-Akirika, who is part of the LP legal team, described the published candidates of Labour Party for the LG poll as unknown, noting that they would institute fresh suit against the electoral umpire as well as petition relevant agencies to investigate the anomaly based on the new development.

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