Dons Eze
OPPOSITION PARTIES IN ENUGU SQUARE UP AS ENSIEC RELEASES TIMETABLE FOR LG ELECTION
Political anxiety and fireworks now envelope Enugu State following the release of the schedule for local government Election by the Enugu State Independent National Electoral Commission (ENSIEC).
The State Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) announced guidelines for the forthcoming Local Government Council elections scheduled to take place on October 5, 2024.
In a public notice signed by the ENSIEC Chairman, Prof. Christian Chimdubem Ngwu, the commission outlined the guidelines for political parties and candidates participating in the elections.
According to the guidelines, “political parties are to obtain nomination forms (ENSIEC 7 and ENSIEC 7A) for Chairmanship and Councillorship elections respectively from August 16 to 23, 2024. Completed forms must be returned on or before August 30, 2024.”
ENSIEC further stated that to qualify for the elections, candidates must meet certain qualifications, including;
Being a citizen of Nigeria. The candidate must also be at least 30 years old for Chairmanship and 25 years old for Councillorship
ENSIEC further stated that candidate must also have a minimum educational qualification of School Certificate (WASC) or its equivalent.
On the disqualification of candidates, ENSIEC further said that such candidates may be disqualified if they have voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country or have been adjudged to be of unsound mind.
Again candidates will be disqualified if they are under a sentence of death or imprisonment or have been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty.
Finally, if they are undischarged bankrupts or are members of secret societies, they will be disqualified.
ENSIEC went further to announce that “the election will be conducted by open secret ballot system. Voting will take place on October 5, 2024, between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm.”
The election umpire however, said that “political parties and candidates are advised to conduct their campaigns in a peaceful and lawful manner.
Campaigns shall start on September 14, 2024, and end by 6:00 pm on October 4, 2024,” while adding that political parties must submit the list of nominated candidates to ENSIEC by August 30, 2024.
“Candidates must be sponsored by a registered political party. Candidates must be ordinarily resident in the ward or Local Government Area they seek to represent.”
Finally ENSIEC stated that”Candidates must produce evidence of tax clearance for a period of three years immediately preceding the year of the election even as it warned that “any political party or candidate that fails to comply with these guidelines may be disqualified from participating in the election.”
However, since the release of the local council election timetable in the state, political atmosphere has once again been charged with many candidates from different political trying to convince voters on why they should vote for them.
From time immemorial, local council elections especially in the South East zone have become a mere formality.
Governors are usually accused of literally handpicking candidates whom they think will be under their whims and caprices. These council chairmen so selected are always at the beck and call of these governors, with no meaningful infrastructural development in their respective local government, after two or four years of their tenures as the case may be.
Opposition parties that field candidates for the election usually have themselves defeated or rather alloted some compensatory votes, thereby looking like a political novice in an election they might probably have won.
Nevertheless, some opposition political parties have also rekindled their desire and readiness to muscle political power with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the coming election in the state.
In a chat, the Labour Party in the state stated that the party had been following the trend of events with regards the election timetable.
The state Publicity Secretary Barr. Onuora Odo further explained that the “party is fully prepared for the up-coming Council Elections in the State.
“We have been following the trend where candidates of the ruling party are declared the winners without going through a normal electoral process.
“This time around, we are ready to challenge the status quo. We are going to ensure that there is a level playing ground for all the participants and we are ready to challenge any irregularities arising from the elections up to Supreme Court. Let me conclude by saying that it’s not going to be business as usual.”
Asked if the party was satisfied with the ENSIEC arrangement on conduct of the election, Barr. Odo who is the Igbo-Eze North Chairmanship candidate of Labour Party in the forthcoming council election told our reporter that “so far, there is nothing to suggest that ENSIEC is going to compromise.
“However, it’s almost a tradition that every elections conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission must suffer one form of interference or the order.
“If you recall, the ENSIEC under Ajogwu issued a circular to the effect that all the political parties must conduct their party primaries within a stipulated period. Within the stipulated time, Labour Party conducted its primaries.
“In fact, it was only Labour Party that complied with the guidelines. It’s now a thing of surprise that the Pdp-led government is coming up with a fresh guidelines, having failed to meet up with the first one.“By and large, we are not deterred in any way. Labour Party is sufficiently prepared. Come October 5th, Labour Party would sweep all the 17 local government of Enugu State. We are highly optimistic.”
