The Enugu South Urban State House Of Assembly Constituency re-run election which was re-scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has again failed to hold, leaving voters disappointed.

Recall that the Labour Party, LP, candidate for the State House of Assembly Constituency, Mr. Bright Ngene was declared winner of the March 18, 2023, House of Assembly election. However, the election was nullified by the court for being inconclusive and a rerun was ordered in eight polling units.

This is the third time that the re-run election is failing to hold.

The INEC had fixed Saturday, August 16, 2025, for the court-ordered rerun election into the vacant seat after that of February 3 and 14 stalled. However, in July 2024, an Enugu South Magistrates court presided over by E D Onwu sentenced the LP candidate to a seven year jail term over a N15m development fund case involving his community. The national leadership of the party described as a grand plot to prevent their candidate from participating in the rerun.

As early as 7am on Saturday, eligible voters turned out to caste their votes, However, when INEC officials arrived, they couldn?t begin because of the non-availability of sensitive materials. By the time the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chukwuemeka Chukwu arrived the venue, a group of women, loyal to the candidate of the PDP, carried placards, insisting that the candidate of the LP should not take part in the election as he has been convicted.

?They should allow us perform our statutory functions and allow the electorate to cast their votes,? he said. ?It?s abnormal because this is the third time we?re coming here for this purpose,?. But at the end of the day the commission will take a decision

Addressing newsmen at 12pm, Chairman of the Labour Party in Enugu South, Chiwuba Ngwu, said that the NEC was not ready to conduct the election, noting that nobody has addressed voters from the commission.

?They should address us and tell us where we are and what we should do because we are in the dark,?he said. ?You cannot be talking about the candidate when what you have on the ballot is the party,?.

Reacting, candidate of the PDP, Sam Ngene, acccused the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji of infiltrating the venue of the election with thugs, with an intention to disrupt the election.

?Nnaji came here with hoodlums to ensure that the election does not hold, he does not have any business with the election,? he said. ?My opponent has been convicted over fraudulent acts and therefore, should not be on the ballot. Let the electoral body do the needful,?

In his reaction, Nnaji dismissed the allegations that he had brought thugs to disrupt the election, insisting that he was a polling agent and that the election was for all political parties, including the All Progressives Congress, (APC).

?It is not business as usual and we are getting into real democracy where we count on numbers,? he said accusing the INEC of planning to declare result even when election did not hold.

?Whatever they declare will not be for today?s election, the PDP cannot intimidate anybody because we know that Ngene is leading the PDP in the election. There is no way they can win the election. They should throw in the towel because nobody will turn the election upside down,?.

Officials of the INEC and security operatives on ground for the election left the venue at exactly 3:20pm, leaving voters stranded. (THISDAY)

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