Okey Maduforo 
…As Election May Hold Before December
…APC, PDP, LP Apprehensive of Transparency.
Contrary to the impressions from some quarters that Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State is not ready to conduct Local Government elections, the governor is said to have concluded arrangements to announce members of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission ANSIEC.
Earlier before now the bill for the establishment of ANSIEC had been passed into law indicating his readiness to conduct local government elections and electoral personnel is being assembled for the excise which may likely take place on or before December this year tentatively.
Consequent to this development the stakeholders and leaders of the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA met with the governor recently to perfect plans for the conduct of the primary elections of the party for the coming election.
At the meeting, it was agreed that the Primary elections committee would be set up while a table for the purchase of forms and indication of interest, and screening of Aspirants is being drafted by the party.
At the meeting, most current Transition Committee Chairmen and Councillors of the twenty-one Council Areas showed body language of taking part in the primary elections of the party which would start with the Ward delegate election to the local government and finally the primary election proper.
This recent development has ignited apprehensions within the ranks of the People’s Democratic Party PDP, the All Progressives Congress APC and the Labour Party as they are not comfortable with the state government conducting the local government elections.
They are contending that the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC should conduct the election in order to create a level playground for what they call a free, fair and credible transparent process.
Deepening the fears of members of these three front-line political parties is the short time frame for them to conduct their own primary elections as the pending leadership crisis in those parties may likely frustrate their plans to wrestle powers from the APGA-led government before the fort coming gubernatorial election next year.
Caretaker Chairman of the PDP Engr Chigozie Igwe while expressing confidence that his party would conduct local government primary elections noted that the party is not unmindful of the possibility of the APGA-led government using the State Electoral Commission to manipulate the process and urged the federal government to insist the INEC conducts the election.
“We are ready for the election anytime any day and we are not unmindful of what may happen if the APGA-led government conducts the election we urge the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to perform that function though we are also ready to resist such plans if they want to manipulate the process,” he said.
State Chairman of the APC Chief Basil Ejidike said that” it is too early to run into conclusion over what may happen but we as a party have all that it takes to battle the party in that election”
“All the same when we get to the bridge we will know how to cross it and those who think that we will not conduct credible primary elections are just fooling themselves because we believe in the internal democracy of our great party” he noted.
Chairman of the Labour Party Mr Peter Okoye said that the conduct of local government elections in Anambra state is not possible this year insisting that there are necessary things to be done before the election.
“We are hearing it as a rumour that there would be local government elections this year but I don’t think it would be possible this year because there are necessary things to be done like who becomes the umpire for the election? ”
“We want INEC to conduct the local government elections and not the State Electoral Commission SIEC because there is the likelihood of the APGA government manipulating the process but whichever way we shall still be part of the election ” he said
However, state Chairman of APGA Chief Ifeatu Obi-Okoye dismissed the claims and fears of the other political parties insisting that their fears stem from the fact that they are not on ground.
Obi-Okoye contended that political parties that have been in crisis cannot conduct valid primary elections adding that the 1999 Constitution made it explicit that the State Independent Electoral Commission should conduct the local government elections hence there is nothing the parties can do about it.
“It is indeed laughable that these political parties that are not on ground are afraid of the election and this is simply because they are not on ground and the quantum of developmental strides of Gov Charles Soludo speak for the party”
“We have been accused of frustrating the local government areas in our state and now that the Supreme Court has made its pronouncement they have come up with the fear of the process being manipulated ”
“For any political party that is on ground there is nothing to fear about and in fact, it is the fear of failure that is driving them into accusing APGA of going to manipulate the election ”
“The 1999 Constitution made it explicit about who conducts the election and it has been there before Gov Charles Soludo came into the saddle so the law was not made for him alone ”
“For us as a party, we are set for the election any day it would hold and this would be a test case of the popularity of the governor in Anambra before the next year’s Governorship election in Anambra ”
“After the local government elections it would become clear which political party is on ground and in charge and by then the 2025 Governorship election would be a mere icing on the cake for APGA” he noted.
