PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has been declared winner of the April 11 governorship election in the state.

Announcing the results yesterday at the state headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Returning Officer, Prof Hilary Edoga stated that Ugwuanyi polled 482,277 while the All Progressives Congress (APC) came second by polling 43,838 votes.
Speaking in his country home in Orba in Udenu Council shortly after his declaration, Ugwuanyi thanked the people of Enugu for the “overwhelming manner in which you have bestowed your mandate on me. With your support and with all hands on deck, I pledge to take Enugu to the next level.”
Ugwuanyi, who said he was dedicating his victory to the people of Enugu, promised that, “I will be the governor of all and with God on our side, the seamless continuity I pledged during the campaigns will yield the anticipated dividends.”

Meanwhile, the APC have asked the INEC to cancel the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly election in Enugu State.

Addressing journalists yesterday, the APC governorship candidate, Chief Okey Ezea in company with his running mate, Juliet Ibebuaku and the state chairman of the party, Dr. Ben Nwoye, described the elections as a sham.

According to him, the elections were marred by “gross irregularities, selling of Permanent Voters Cards, (PVCs), absence of result sheets, violence, intimidation, harassment, ballot box stuffing and snatching, kidnapping and injury to APC supporters by thugs of the PDP.”

In his congratulatory message, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu said Ugwuanyi’s victory was expected, as the PDP was the only party on ground in Enugu and also because of his overwhelming popularity in the state.

The statement signed by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu, the Deputy Senate President stated, “This is a well deserved victory. Enugu has been a PDP state since 1999. We also marketed an unbeatable product in Ugwuanyi therefore; the election was more of a coronation ceremony.

“Ugwuanyi, a man versed in Enugu politics, has garnered experience from the centre as a ranking member of the House of Representatives; a grassroots person, he has a clear vision about what he has set out to achieve.”

APC chairman, in an earlier petition to the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) stated that, “it is more appalling to note that the aforementioned malpractices were executed with the assistance and acquiescence of INEC ad hoc staffs, youth corps members and security agents entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring a free, fair and credible elections in the state.”

According to Nwoye, “with the scope of the irregularities in the 17 councils of the state, it beholds on the REC to cancel the election,” while Ibebuaku said that APC will follow due process in addressing what has happened in Enugu.”

Insisting that there was no election in Enugu on Saturday, Ezea claimed that “there was a deliberate policy to ensure that no election took place in his village as elections in my community and environs were disrupted,” and called for a new election to be supervised by Police from other parts of the country since police aided and abetted thuggery.

He noted: “We can’t continue with this rubbish in Enugu any longer. We will soon see the implication of thuggery in Enugu. It will not be possible to frustrate us out of the political space in Enugu, we shall never succumb to intimidation.”

Ibebuaku expressed worry over the spate of violence and noted, “No country can be built on violence. If we don’t begin to fight this, the democratic tendencies in Enugu will retard as an environment of violence has been created.”