February 04, (THEWILL) – The Ebonyi state chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) yesterday, held election for its officers amidst protests and petitions from members.
THEWILL gathered that fourteen political parties were accredited to vote during the election which was witnessed by INEC officials and security agents.
The election was held at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ebonyi state, to elect new leaders that will pilot the affairs of the state for the next two years.
However a mild drama played out immediately after a motion was moved for the dissolution of the former leaders of the council to enable the election of new leaders to hold proper.
After the motion was moved by Chika Samuel of the ADP and seconded by Catherine Ohakam of the APM for the dissolution of the former executives of the council, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which was represented by its Deputy Chairman, Ifeanyi Nworie moved his own motion calling for suspension of the election.
He alleged that there was no transparency in the processes that led to the exercise and accused the Special Assistant to Governor Dave Umahi on Labour and Inter-Party Affairs, Mrs. Jenifer Adibe of hijacking the process to favour the state government.
“I am appearing in protest and bringing to your attention the irregularities in the processes of this exercise and the unlawful exclusion of my party the PDP in the ongoing election. It was a deliberate calculated efforts to scheme our party out of this election.
“On 29th December, 2021, the SA to the Governor on Inter-Party Dialogue, Jenifer Adibe called for a meeting in her office and directed that anybody who has interest in the election should soft-pedal, that she wants the current executives that was just dissolved to come back for second tenure unopposed. This brought a lot of controversy and the meeting was marred with quarrels because where a political party will be for-closed in involvement in the election, I wouldn’t know how it will look like,” he said.
But Adibe said that the law provides that she calls for a meeting over IPAC election as SA on Inter-Party Affairs to avoid breakdown of law and order.
“There have been a lot of crises in IPAC. So, I have tried to stabilize the system and not to cage them. so, nobody was told not to participate in the election,” she said.
Comrade Morgan Nnaemeka of the ADC also challenged Adibe and called for suspension of the election.
Both Nworie and Nnaemeka submitted petitions against the election before IPAC national officials. Nworie and Nnaemeka engaged the IPAC national officials verbally which made the exercise rowdy. The two party Chiefs later walked out of the venue of the election as the officials did not act on their protests.
The election was however later held with former leaders of the council’s return unopposed.
About the Author
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
