Enugu Labour Party gov candidate alleges plot by PDP to destabilise election

The governorship candidate of the Labor Party (LP) in Enugu State, Chijioke Edeoga, has said that the LP has uncovered plans by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to sabotage the March 18 governorship and state assembly elections in the state.

In a statement on Sunday made available to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr. Edeoga said “reliable intelligence” obtained by the “LP hierarchy” in the state indicated that “highly placed” members of the PDP in the state were carrying out a “plan”. .

He added that the PDP’s “plan” to obstruct the upcoming exercise follows the extraordinary LP during the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections in the country.

The party won seven of the eight House of Representatives seats in Enugu State.

“We have good authority that the plan of the enemy of this country, is the strategic target of many rural communities in the country, where, our intelligence has told us, the disruption of voting and / or the frustration of the collection of results is the core objective,” he said.

“We have also been informed that the main polling units with the potential for a large Labor Party vote have been identified, with armed and dangerous non-state actors, have been briefed to do everything in their power, including lethal force and summary killings, to ensure the result . in the polling units were not collected and uploaded to the INEC server, using the legally prescribed instruments of the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS),” Mr. Edeoga said.

The LP candidate accused the PDP-led state government of diverting arms bought for vigilante groups and other security agencies to thugs-from inside and outside the country- who were paid to sabotage Saturday’s elections.

“Areas specifically targeted for attacks and deployment of materials by thugs in Enugu metropolis include: Okpara Square, School of Dental Technology, Achara Layout Primary School, Idaw River Primary School and Igbariam Primary School – all in Enugu,” he said.

Mr. Edeoga also said that the thugs were “armed and prepared freely, appearing in Police, Army and Civil Defense uniforms,” ​​so that they could enjoy free movement across the country during the election to carry out “planned attacks”.

He claimed that PDP members had planned to collaborate with INEC officials, local council chairmen and PDP leaders, to “tactically and hesitantly delay the distribution” of election materials from the Central Bank of Nigeria to local government areas. from the country.

“The strategy is to work with transport logistics service providers to find one reason or another to delay the transport of these sensitive materials, ensure that they do not reach the polling center early enough, or even do not get there. people to vote that.

The LP candidate said the party called on the Federal Government to immediately order the State Security Service and the Directorate of Military Intelligence “to quickly conduct an audit of arms, weapons and ammunition legally approved for the Enugu State Government for use by the Forest Guard and the State Vigilante Service and ensure that every weapon approved and acquired must be accounted for before Saturday’s election.

“We also request that all electoral materials for the election be transported to all local council areas in the state, two days before the election day, to avoid deliberate delays in the arrival of electoral materials,” he said.

There was no response from the PDP

The chairman of the PDP in Enugu State, Augustine Nnamani, did not respond to calls and text messages seeking comment from him on the allegations.

Also, Louis Amoke, the media assistant to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, promised to direct this journalist to officials from the PDP Campaign Council for a response. But refused to respond to calls from this reporter, after.

Other PDP officials in the state, who promised to “get back” to this reporter, also failed to do so, about three hours later.