By Chikaodi Chukwuleta
Following the list of candidates of various political parties for the Anambra State Local Government Elections published on Friday, by the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), the Labour Party (LP) has declared that they have no candidates for the exercise.
The LP State Chairman, Chief Ugochukwu Emeh, declared this at a press conference held on Saturday, in Awka, Anambra State capital.
According to him, neither himself nor the state secretary signed or submitted lists of nominated candidates of the party to the ANSIEC for both Councillor and Chairmanship positions.
He said the Labour Party was surprised over the latest development having boycotted the election since inception due to some observed illegalities in the process, and had never bothered to sell nomination or expression of interest forms, or even conduct party primaries.
The State Publicity Secretary of Labour Party, Engr. Theo Chuddy Egbe, in his remarks, recalled that LP had in a suit no. A/265/2024 Labour Party vs Anambra State House of Assembly and ANOR pending at the State High Court, and expressed total lack of faith, trust and confidence in ANSIEC and “the shabby illegal process they adopted, for being at complete variance with due process and the Electoral Act, 2022.”
“A careful perusal of the commission’s list of these fangled Labour patrty candidates reveals that the names belong to known members of defeated Soludo faction of APGA, including the name of a current APGA Transition Chairman, Orumba South LGA, Mr Nwafor Chinonso Charlesmary Casmir and that of both past and current transition councillors of APGA extraction.
“Labour party views this conduct of Ansiec and Anambra State Government as a criminal assault on due process and a rape of the electoral laws of the land, as well as unwarranted provocation of the law abiding members of Labour Party at large,” he said.
The LP State Secretary, Barr Chibunna Okoli-Akirika, who is part of the LP Legal Team, described the published candidates of Labour Party for the LG polls as unknown, noting that they would institute fresh suit against the electoral umpire and petition relevant agencies to investigate the anomaly based on the new development.
It was observed that LP, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), and New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) were among the contending parties across the 21 council areas as published by ANSIEC.
