•Ebonyi chapter protests against threats to members’ lives
Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC), yesterday, announced that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), won the chairmanship of all 17 council areas of the state during the Friday, December 18, 2020 local government election.
Its Chairman, Prof. Mkpa Agu Mkpa, declared that the PDP won the councillorship seats in 287 of the 293 wards, while the Labour Party (LP) won six in Ikwuano Council Area.
Mkpa told The Guardian that there were hitches in some councils during the exercise, saying that five political parties namely: PDP, All Progressives Congress (APC), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), LP and the Young Peoples Party (YPP) participated in the poll, which he described as ‘keenly contested’.
He urged winners to be magnanimous in victory and losers to prepare for better outing in future elections, adding: “Winners may not be the best candidates, but God made their victory possible. Aspirants should consider the reality on ground and how to confront it such that if they can’t match force with force, they negotiate.”
He commended all participants and security personnel for their role in maintaining peace during the election.
Chairman, state APC Caretaker Committee, Donatus Nwankpa, had hinted that the party would reject the results and challenge the outcome of the poll in court, about six hours before Mkpa announced the results.
Commenting on the poll, a resident of the state, Ken Korie, who said he had been observing council polls in the state over the years, noted that this year’s poll did not differ from the previous ones.
“The ruling parties had always won council election. Today it was PDP, but in the past it was the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA). If APC or another party ascends power, they will also sweep the poll,” he stated.
He predicted that this scenario would subsist until local government polls were held the same time with national and state elections.
Meanwhile, the Ebonyi State chapter of PDP has protested against alleged threats to its members and threatened to write to the governments of the United States of America (U.S.A.), the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja, Publicity Secretary of the Ebonyi State PDP, Silas Onu, claimed that the threats to PDP members became unbearable since Governor Dave Umahi defected to APC recently, alleging that Umahi had continued to make life difficult for those who had refused to join him in the APC.
Onu raised the alarm that the Christmas season might be the bloodiest in the history of Ebonyi in view of the stockpiling of arms, urging the Federal Government and international community to pay more attention to the state.
