Ahead of Saturday’s Local Government Elections in Anambra State, the Labour Party has made it clear that it is not fielding any candidate for the elections, describing those flying the party’s flag in the exercise as impostors.
The Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission, ANSIEC, published a list of some persons as Labour Party candidates in the election.
The candidates on the ANSIEC list are expected to participate in eight local governments out of the 21 LGAs in the state.
However, during a briefing on Friday in Awka, the LP State Chairman, Ugochukwu Emeh, said no party executive, as authorized by the law, signed the nomination forms for the candidates parading themselves as Labour Party members.
Making it clear that the party is not participating in the election, Emeh urged the ANSIEC to leave out the party in its exercise as it had made its position clear from the onset.
He said the party is in court challenging the process that led to the election, adding that the persons parading themselves as Labour Party candidates in the election have also been subpoenaed and will meet the party in court.
“There is no ambiguity about this and we wonder why ANSIEC is joining Labour in this charade. We made it clear that we were not participating earlier. Let them conduct their election and meet us in court,” he said.
On his part, the publicity secretary of the Anambra LP, Engr Theo Egbe, said the Labour Party does not have factions in the state, explaining why they are not contesting the election.
“Our reason is that the election does not follow due process. The entire process is based on illegality and obnoxious laws passed by the State House of Assembly under the pressure of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, who sent the bill.
“The laws as we see them, are illegal and do not in any way, reflect anything that will guide due process. The abridgement of time is too short for any party, even APGA itself, to prepare for the election,” he said.
Egbe noted that the governor has selected the list of the Transition Committee Chairmen serving across the state, who will be announced tomorrow, irrespective of the voting pattern.
He also disowned a viral video by two individuals claiming to be contesting on the platform of the Labour Party, describing them as transactional political mercenaries hired by Soludo to create the impression that the LP is contesting in tomorrow’s election.
The Anambra LP spokesperson called on the party members to disregard what he described as the governor’s antics and refrain from participating in the exercise. He insisted that the Labour Party, as a grassroots party, is insisting that the right things should be done to entrench democracy at the local government level in the state.
