Bishop Silas Eke, an Abia-born cleric, says the last time Abia State witnessed credible local government elections was during the administration of Orji Uzor Kalu.
A cross-section of the Abia electorate berated the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission for its alleged poor performance in Saturday’s chairmanship and councillorship elections.
The people blamed the low voter turnout on the late arrival of election officials and electoral materials at the polling units, which delayed the commencement of the exercise across the state.
A correspondent from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who monitored the election in Aba South, reported that many prospective voters who turned up to exercise their franchise became frustrated and left after waiting several hours without the presence of election officials.
Reacting to the recently conducted council election in Abia State on Sunday, the cleric described the entire process as “shameful, disgraceful, and shambolic,” urging the Alex Otti-led government to follow the example of former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, who, according to him, provided a level playing field for all political parties.
He questioned “if this election was the change Governor Alex Otti promised Abians,” noting that the election was characterized by intimidation, suppression, and results swapping, and claiming that the outcome did not reflect the wishes of the people.
“I have said it several times: Governor Orji Uzor Kalu remains the only governor in Abia State to have conducted free, fair, and credible local government elections. I witnessed it firsthand—political parties were allowed to test their popularity and acceptability. Back then, it was about the will of the people. That was democracy in action, and you could see how those chairmen performed in their respective local government areas.”
“The best local government chairmen we’ve had in Abia State were all from the Orji Uzor Kalu era. He proved to be a democrat, a well-tested democrat, who allowed grassroots governance to thrive. That was not the case on Saturday. What we witnessed in Abia was appalling; it was not an election. I had expected Governor Otti to test his popularity at the grassroots level by allowing a free, fair, and credible election.
“We heard of intimidation in some parts of the state, where people were injured, beaten, and arrested by government officials. This is not what we expected from someone like Governor Otti. Some of us are becoming very disappointed with everything,” he said.
