The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that the rescheduled rerun election for the Enugu South 1 State Constituency was postponed due to security reasons.
Dr Chukwuemeka Chukwu, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Enugu, informed the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the election, initially planned for June 8 after stakeholders’ engagements, was delayed due to security considerations.
Dr Chukwu stated, “Last week, the scheduled rerun election was postponed and duly communicated to all stakeholders with a clear reason for the postponement.
“But I am surprised some misguided people are taking up all sorts of unfounded falsehoods and rumours against the commission that it seems the election had been held in secret even as I am speaking to you.”
The election was initially held on March 18, 2023, where Mr Bright Ngene of the Labour Party (LP) was declared the winner and sworn in.
However, the election was later nullified by the tribunal for being inconclusive. This recent postponement marks the third attempt by INEC to conduct the rerun election.
On the scheduled day, voters gathered at the affected polling units early in the morning, but no INEC officials were present.
Mr Ngene expressed his disappointment, stating that he had received no information about the postponement.
Conversely, Mr Sam Ngene, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, confirmed that the postponement was communicated to his party.
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