Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
Pan-African Women Project, a foreign election observer team from South Africa in Nigeria to monitor the 2019 general elections, on Sunday condemned in strong terms, pockets of pre-election violence that erupted in parts of Ebonyi State.
The leader of the group in the state, Mrs Lebogang Mkhize Ugorji, while laying bare their observations before newsmen in Abakaliki, said that they recorded the burning of properties in some council areas and noticed the proliferation of firearms which they said were politically motivated.
Ugorji said: “We noticed that there were pockets of pre-election violence in some areas of the state. For example, a building was set ablaze at Izziogo in Izzi L.G.A. because of some political differences and several people were wounded.
“Similarly, at Ikwo L.G.A. two men were caught with pump-action rifles by vigilance groups as they were alleged to be political thugs hired to disrupt the elections,” she added.
Also condemning the ugly situation was the Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Chief Onyekachi Nwebonyi, who lamented that selfish politicians were instigating political killings and violence in order to pave way for the perpetuation of electoral malpractice during the polls.
Nwebonyi said: “I condemn the wanton destruction of properties and killing of innocent Nigerians all over the nation. Of my particular interest is the wanton destruction of properties and killing of innocent Ebonyians in Ebonyi State.
“A few hours ago, I got a report from Mgbo Agbaja ward of Izzi Local Government Area that about eight of our PDP members were shot. And as I speak, two are dead. The survivors are receiving treatment at Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (FETHA).
“All this is being caused by some members of the opposition party. Some members of the opposition are visibly out in the state to instigate violence so as to scare away voters from coming out to vote,” he lamented.
The duo, therefore, called on security agencies to rise up to the occasion and stop the menace before it escalates the more.
Meanwhile, both the PDP and the foreign observers have condemned the sudden postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections, saying that it was “unwarranted, dismaying, disappointing, and should be condemned by all lovers of democracy.”
PDP Chairman, Nwebonyi, said: “By this postponement, Nigerians have suffered irreparable loss economically and it goes to show clearly that the APC-led Federal government of Nigeria is incompetent in everything.
“I say so because this is a government that has failed virtually in everything starting from its formation of the federal executive council. We all know that it took President Muhammadu Buhari almost a year to form his cabinet. On the other hand, this is a government that presents the annual budget of our country in the middle of that fiscal year.
“We want to call on all Nigerians to jointly vote out the APC on any day they may summon courage to fix these elections starting from the presidential and other elections for being incompetent, non-sensitive to the feelings and aspirations of Nigerians and above all, for bringing to our country, Nigeria, this national shame before the international community.
“I want to use this opportunity also, to call on the Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to immediately resign his position for failing to perform his constitutional duties within the specified period of time,” Nwebonyi added.