From Chidi Nnadi, Enugu

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State has said that it would not participate in the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) by-elections scheduled to hold Saturday in some political wards in the area.

ENSIEC, it was gathered, scheduled the by-election following complaints by the APC who alleged that the election was marred by malpractices but alleged the commission went ahead to declare a landslide victory for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Therefore, a statement signed on behalf of the chairmanship and councillorship candidates of the APC by the council local government chairman, Mr Jude Anyadibe, urged the party supporters in Udi to ignore the call by ENSIEC for a by-election.

Anyadibe argued that the by-election would not be different from “the just concluded sham elections which purportedly took place in the state last Saturday.”

The statement read in part that: “We the entire executive leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the chairmanship and councillorship candidates of APC in Udi local government area, refer to the just concluded sham called elections which purportedly took place in Udi local government area on Saturday, November 4, 2017 and the intended by-elections scheduled to hold on the 11th November in the entire area.

“Strengthened by the decisions reached at a meeting of the APC ward chairman, councillorship and chairmanship candidates, local government executives and the chairman of Udi LGA, we hereby completely reject and dissociate ourselves from the purported sham called elections which took place on November 4, 2017. Following that decision, we are advising the good people of Udi to go about their normal businesses and pay no heed to the proposed by-elections as they will not be any different from the election fraud of November 4”.

Anyadibe said their decision not to participate in the by-election followed observations of “demonstrable inexperience, immorality, immaturity and inability to conduct elections that are free and fair; and that pays maximum regard to due process.”

He prayed for the immediate reconstitution of the ENSIEC to reflect an electoral umpire that is capable of conducting free and fair elections as enshrined under the Nigerian law