Guber of Enugu: The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has raised the alarm about an alleged plot by some individuals to unleash widespread violence in Enugu State during the March 11 governorship election. INEC and the PDP plan to subvert the will of the electorate.
The allegation was made a few days after Mr. Frank Nweke (Jr.), the governorship candidate for the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, was accused the People’s Democratic Party, or PDP, of arming criminals prior to the election.
Mr. Ogbonna Festus, the state chairman of the CUPP, warned the ruling party not to turn Enugu into a war zone when he spoke to journalists on Tuesday.
Ogbonna also claimed that the PDP attempted to compromise officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and urged security agencies to prepare for the challenge that lies ahead.
“There are incessant claims that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is plotting a state-wide attack in Enugu State in a desperate attempt to retain the State,” he stated.
Ogbonna said that the fact that a key member of the ruling party had been making threats to Catholic priests of all kinds was worrying.
“This is very concerning; This is not our ideal Enugu state. Instead of fighting to get what they want, those who want to be in positions of authority should try to get the people’s approval. This is what the leaders of the PDP are enthroning in Enugu, and it is very wrong,” he warned.
“There are also allegations and boasts from the PDP circle of their alliance with the key officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), and security agencies,” the Coalition said of INEC, which it claimed was in an illegal relationship with the PDP.
“They are said to have compromised the aforementioned INEC officials with the intention of truncating the electoral process’s credibility.”
According to CUPP’s declaration, “This is why we are sounding a note of warning to the INEC and their collaborators that we are not going to accept a situation where the will of the people will be truncated.”
“The essence of this plot is to give the voters a semblance of credible election, only to swap the fake sheets with the original version after the exercise has ended,” it stated. It also claimed that corrupt INEC officials would arrive at polling units with fake result sheets.
“We in the CUPP hereby warn the INEC not to play with the future of the millions of Enugu residents after examining these critical allegations.
“The INEC absolutely must deliver all genuine result sheets to the various polling locations in the state.
They must also immediately transmit the results to the polling units in real time.
“For emphasis, we demand that INEC officials at each polling unit ensure that polling unit results are in such a way that duplicate copies must be seen very clearly and countersigned by the Party agents present in case INEC officials tend to circumvent the BVAS,” CUPP added. “In case INEC officials tend to circumvent the BVAS,” the party agents added.
“Not to be intimidated by those who do not mean well for the State” was the group’s message to the people of Enugu State.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nana Ogbodo, Director of Communications for the PDP Campaign Organization, had previously dismissed the allegations as unfounded.
