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A Group of 74 Political Parties (G74) in Enugu State has urged residents of the state to disregard a communique issued by a group of 18 political parties and go out en masse vote for candidates of their choice in tomorrow’s local government elections in the state.

The G74 in a statement jointly issued by its Coordinator, Apostle Newman Chukwuaja and the Secretary, Hon. Obinna Ogah, the political parties wondered why some individuals would want to discredit a process they failed to do the needful when the window was open, saying that the “decision by the group of 18 to embark on this frolicking at this point in time is at best reckless and at worst dangerous.”

They noted that the efforts of the individual to smear the credibility of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission ENSIEC and calling on the public to boycott the Local Government Election should be discountenanced.

They wondered how a Chairman of a political party will feign ignorant of the rules and procedures of an election well enshrined in an ENSIEC guidelines and gazetted by the state government.

The G74 said “This is bringing to the notice of all gentlemen and ladies of the press once more as our attention has been drawn to a Communiqué, purportedly concocted by a group of 18 political parties with a view to smearing the credibility of the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission ENSIEC and calling on the public to boycott the Local Government Election billed for Wednesday, the 23rd of February, 2022.

“The decision by the group of 18 to embark on this frolicking at this point in time is at best reckless and at worst dangerous.

“Ordinarily, we would have ignored the said press release but silence in this circumstance would mean giving validity to such fallacies.

“Therefore, we the group of 74 political parties in Enugu state wish to deconstruct and divest the strange garb in which their street- level and nefarious mendacity has been cloaked; lest, the public be deceived with such outlandish, unfounded, baseless and unsubstantiated claims, insipidly spewed in bad faith to cause confusion or simply perhaps, to attract attention.

“We the G74 IPAC are by this press release informing the general public to discountenance the mischievously and hurriedly fabricated Communiqué earlier released by the Group of 18 to instigate disaffection among our people. The grand plan to discredit and impugn the character of ENSIEC has failed on arrival.

“As INTER-PARTY ADVISORY COUNCIL, we are readied to constructively interrogate the Independent Electoral Body at the slightest of any incontrovertible impropriety, infraction or tendency to scuttle the wheel of justice but certainly not when the Commission is not in contravention of the tenets of the Rule of Law” the statement by the G74 noted.

The 74 political parties added that “All the dubious allegations proffered against ENSIEC by the Group of 18 are not only utterly false and latently spurious, but laced in an insipid and provocative literature capable of bringing the image of IPAC to disrepute. Those who are still pandering to these salacious slants are just unnecessarily muddying the waters.

“A motley group of utterly incompetent and brazenly ignorant State chairmen of some lame political parties, without structures will not be allowed to benefit from their laziness, perfidious activities and contempt to standard practices.

“Political parties or Chairmen of such political desperados who fail to conduct genuine primaries, sponsor the registration of their candidates or present their candidates for ordinary screening exercise, and yet expect ENSIEC to qualify their candidates for election are criminal elements.

“And because most of the parties do not have even basic functional offices, the ENSIEC NOTIFICATION OF FAILURE NOTICES could only be sent to their WhatsApp lines and equally served on their residential homes. The dire consequence therefore, is a lost opportunity to leverage on the golden window of substitution of candidates.

“Nothing could be more shamefully nauseating than the press release of the APC Chairman, Mr Ugo Agbala which alleges disenfranchisement of his members by the ENSIEC.

“More ridiculous is also the threat of stopping the election via the instrumentality of the court. But what he has failed to tell the world is that this ENSIEC accommodated two factional chairmen of APC (Chief Ben Nwoye and Mr Ugo Agbala) in all meetings until the later was declared the authentic and substantive Chairman only a few weeks ago.

“This was deliberately done to accommodate APC in the election. What should have been an official letter of appreciation to the Electoral body by Ugo Agbala on his eventual declaration as chairman, inexplicably turned out an image battering and frivolous media stinker! But this is where brazing inexperience in party management, matches deafening incompetence. How sad!

“ENSIEC had announced the aforementioned election since last year, released a timetable and gazetted the procedures in printed hard copies in favour of every interested party.

“How can one explain that the Chairman of a political party is ignorant of the rules and procedures of an election well enshrined in an ENSIEC GUIDELINE? Obviously the wailing parties neither fielded candidates for this election nor followed due process.

“We invite the public to note that the ENSIEC processes have not been tainted with bias thus far, just as the body has diligently obeyed the Appeal Court judgment on deregistered parties in line with total adherence to the Rule of Law.

“Finally, we wish to educate our brothers through this medium that IPAC remains an advisory body and not an opposition body or an attack dog. We emphatically and unequivocally declare that the Communiqué earlier issued by this group of 18 is not only in conflict with IPAC’s revered integrity but is equally in breach of the IPAC code of conduct. The National body is therefore, encouraged to do the needful.

“We enjoin the people of Enugu State to freely exercise their franchise by voting for their preferred candidates come Wednesday, the 23rd of February, 2022”, the G74 concluded.