INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega

***PDP: We'll go to court

Christopher Isiguzo

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, tension  Friday gripped Enugu state following the discovery that the names of 40% of  the registered voters in the state have disappeared from the register released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Of the total of 2940 polling booths in the state, 621 were completely missing from the register over what INEC officials said was caused by human and machine error.

Thisday checks showed that names of notable politicians including the speaker of the state Assembly and frontline governorship aspirant, Eugene Odoh, chairman of the PDP in the state, Vita Abba, a serving senator and members of the House of Representatives mostly from Enugu North senatorial zone are missing from the register.

It is also feared that the name of Governor Sullivan Chime, Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo as well as other prominent officials of the state government are missing in the INEC register.

Already,  the leadership of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in the state  Friday threatened to drag INEC to court if the anomaly was not rectified before the elections, accusing the electoral body of deliberately trying to collude with some "desperate" politicians to disenfranchise majority of the people of the state in the coming elections.

Breakdown of the missing polling booths in the register showed that the worst hit is Nsukka and Igboetiti councils where 230 and 190 booths were returned with zero registered voters.

Others include, Aninri (2), Awgu (6), Enugu East (20), Enugu North (2), Enugu South (4), Ezeagu (2), Igboeze North (25), Igboeze South (4), Isi-Uzo (1), Nkanu West (148), Oji River (5), Udenu (3), Uzo Uwani (4), while two polling booths were completely missing in the governor's Udi council area.

INEC officials in the state have however dismissed insinuations that the action had political undertone,  insisting that it was caused by human and machine error which they claimed had been rectified in readiness for the forthcoming registration exercise.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Lawrence Azubuike had told newsmen that a fresh voters' registration exercise will be conducted in the state between May 28 to June 1 and therefore urged those whose polling booths were affected to take part in the exercise.

But, briefing newsmen on the development, chairman of the PDP in the state, Abba who displayed his temporary voter's register which he used to take part in the 2011 general elections as well as last year's local government election in the state expressed dismay that what happened in Anambra state in the November 16 Governorship election where registered voters could not find their names in the register was about to be repeated in Enugu state.

He accused INEC of planning to derail democracy, noting that the people of the state would not tolerate such arrangement where over 40% of registered voters have already been delisted from the register few months to the next election.

While noting that some politicians were behind the development in order to achieve their individual desires of ensuring that Enugu North zone did not produce the next governor of the state in the spirit of the zoning arrangement in the state, Abba urged INEC chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega to rectify the problem before it gets out of hand.

He also raised alarm that apart from Enugu state which is President Goodluck Jonathan's stronghold, Benue, Abia, Akwa-Ibom among others were equally affected.

He said it would be difficult for the people to be mobilised for a fresh exercise expected to last for only five days whereas the last exercise lasted for three weeks.

"There's something sinister about this issue. Some politicians have vowed that Nsukka will never produce the next governor and the only way they think they can achieve their selfish desires is to manipulate the register to favour them,  but let me make it clear to them that they have failed because Enugu people will not accept this. We are ready to go to court if nothing is urgently done to address this problem," Abba noted.


Source: ThisDay