On Monday the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Southeast Zone urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately rise to the occasion and save Enugu State from an avoidable crisis by resolving the logjam encountered in the governorship election held on Saturday.
Aloysius Attah, Chairman of CLO Southeast Zone, made the appeal via a statement released in Enugu.
Attah noted with dismay that INEC’s State Returning Officer, Resident Electoral Commissioner and other actors in the commission are being pressured to thwart the people’s will.
The CLO said incontrovertible evidence from the outcome of the polls had shown that the majority of people of Enugu State spoke in loud voices with their votes on whom they want to represent them in government starting from the Presidential/ National Assembly polls till last Saturday when they re-echoed their stance once more by ensuring that Labour Party maintained the majority in House of Assembly and in various local government results for the governorship elections.
The organisation called on INEC to resist any form of pressure or inducement in accepting the evidently flawed results procured from Nkanu East local government area and save the commission and its agents from public odium and disgrace with its attendant consequences, which may literally set Enugu State on fire.
The statement read, “Tension is building up already across different parts of the state by the restive youths who are not taking chances these days in allowing their mandate to be stolen by any political actor or parties. The desperation to take power by hook or crook being exhibited by some forces leaves much to be desired, while those who read the signs of the present times don’t need any prophet or seer to tell them that things have changed.
“It is our unshaken position that input legitimacy should not be toyed with at any time in the democratic process as the process through which a public official emerges into public office is very much vital as to also what the public person does in office after getting power.
“Subverting the peoples’ will in a brazen manner and resorting to the provocative slogan “If not satisfied, go to court” will not be accepted anymore in Enugu State and henceforth in the entire Southeast region. The people deserve the kind of a leader they gave their consent to through the democratic process of voting, and no more shall they be deprived of this their guaranteed democratic rights.
“To do the contrary poses a serious danger to the society, and we implore INEC and other desperate politicians to avoid setting Enugu state on fire by their actions or inactions. Let the outcome of the final result be a reflection of the wish of the electorates who braved all odds to come out and exercise their franchise.”
