The Enugu South Urban Constituency by-election was yet to commence as of 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 16, despite a large turnout of voters at Uwani Secondary School, the designated venue.

Tension heightened as some women staged protests, alleging undue interference by politicians in the process. They insisted that the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Bright Ngene, should have been disqualified over his conviction.

In July 2024, an Enugu South Magistrates’ Court, presided over by E. D. Onwu, sentenced Ngene to seven years’ imprisonment. He had been arraigned In 2017 alongside two others by the Enugu State Police Command over a N15 million community development fund scandal.

Speaking with reporters, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Sam Ngene, expressed dissatisfaction with the delay.

“If you look properly, you will see that there is strong mobilisation for this election. The truth is that in the first time, second time, and third time, you could see that there is infiltration.

“The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, is here and he is why we are not able to hold this election. Senator Kelvin Chukwu is here too. They are not supposed to be here. They are the reason why this election is having issues.

“Another question is, who am I even contesting with? Someone who is behind bars. The person who I am contesting with was convicted and is in prison. The constitution is clear. Someone who is a convict cannot stand in an election.”

Reacting, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, defended his presence at the venue, stressing that he was acting in his capacity as leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

“Every party that contested the initial election is in the ballot. I am the minister of the Federal Republic from Enugu State. What it means is that anywhere I am, things must be done the right way. This means that the right things must be done. That is why the PDP is jittery. I have a right to be here because I am the leader of my party in the state.”

Similarly, the LP Chairman in Enugu South, Chinwuba Ngwu, lamented the lack of progress at the polling centre.

“We came here for election. We have been here since 7 o’clock; till now there has not been any information from INEC. There is no accreditation. Nothing is happening. We are demanding that INEC officials should address us. We are in the dark. You can see that they are even here.”

As of press time, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had yet to issue a formal statement on the situation. (Saturday Sun)