Chieftains of All Progressives Congress, APC, the main opposition party in Enugu’s local government elections which was held on Saturday have described the exercise as shambolic, with some even calling for its total cancellation.

While addressing journalists on the outcome of the exercise in his country home on Saturday evening, a former governor of Enugu State, Mr Sullivan Chime called for the cancellation and rescheduling of the Nov. 4  local government election in the state.

News Agency reports that Chime also warned the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) not to contemplate announcing results arising from the exercise.

He said that the call was necessary to save ENSIEC from ridiculing itself by announcing fictitious results.

He said that from the events that played out across the state it was obvious that the electoral umpire was not prepared for the election.

“They should go back and do their homework. No election held today. They should reschedule the election and be more prepared for it and forget about electoral fraud,” he said.

Chime said that it would have been in the best interest of the state government to allow for a free and fair election in order to test their popularity.

“I believe it would have been in the interest of the government to actually allow a free and fair election. That is the only way they can actually know their strength and whether they are doing well or not.

“If you do what it was today and you have fake results all over, they may be going in for a shocker in 2019 as the election will not be conducted by ENSIEC,” he said.

He said that his experience at his polling unit was very unfortunate and sad, adding that it was a resurgence of those primitive days.

“I went to vote in order to encourage people around there but sadly I think we have gone back to those primitive days. They were no result sheets and other sensitive materials.

“We observed impersonators with all sorts of cards to vote. Some were turned down while others succeeded.

“This is a situation were you have well known card carrying members of a party also functioning as electoral officials like supervisors and presiding officers. It was that bad,” he said.

Chime said that what played out during the polls could be likened “to where your opponent is your umpire in a contest”.

“I did not see anything close to an election or resembling free and fair election. In fact in some places there were no voting at all. We describe it as unfair.

“So elections properly so called did not hold in the state,” he said.

Chime said that the state government had before now held four local government elections, “but we never experienced any such nonsense as we did today.

“If this is what they plan to do in 2019 general election they should start looking for something else to do because it will not work,” Chime said.

Also, the National Vice Chairman, South East, Mr Emmanuel Eneukwu told newsmen in his country home at Obinagu in Udi Local Government Area of the state that the election was a `sham’.

Eneukwu said that election materials arrived very late at many council areas while other areas witnessed no election.

“Voting materials arrived late in many areas across the state while sensitive materials like the result sheets were nowhere to be found.

“There is no way election can be conducted without result sheets.

“Even in my ward at Obinagu, materials have not arrived as at 1p.m,’’ he said.

The vice chairman said that he had been to the local government headquarters at Udi to report and the electoral officer assured him that the materials would soon be distributed.

“Let us give them the benefit of doubt,’’ he said.

In his remarks, the Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu described the election as ‘shambolic’.

Okechukwu decried late arrival of materials in many polling units in the state.

“This exercise is shambolic. I think the PDP is afraid of losing to the APC.

“Is that how they will behave if devolution of powers is granted to governors?

“So if they give them powers, opposition will die because they will use state police to intimidate them, ’’ he said.

However, in his reaction, Enugu Commissioner for Information, Mr Ogbuagu Anikwe said that it was `aggressors’ that were trying to disrupt the elections.

“This is part of their antics to make the entire process a nullity because they know they are losing.

“PDP is not afraid of any opposition because PDP is on ground in Enugu State and it will take the opposition number of years to find itself in PDP’s position,’’ he said.