Labour Party Calls for Postponement of Election in Enugu East over Murder of Candidate  

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja      

The National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to call of the election in Enugu East senatorial district, Enugu State.

  The call followed the gruesome murder of the party’s senatorial candidate, Hon Oyibo Chukwu, with five of his supporters at Amechi Awkunanaw, Enugu South Local Government Area yesterday.  

Abure in a statement made available to journalists expressed worries by the level of attacks on LP’s candidates, officials and supporters across the country.   He also condemned the act, and therefore called on the security agents to be on top of the matter, stressing that it was “becoming a tradition where people attack our candidates all over the country.   “It would be recalled that our senatorial candidate in Ebonyi South, Hon Linus Okorie, was kidnapped on his way to his house in Ebonyi State on October 16, 2022, allegedly by the personnel of the South-east vigilante outfit, Ebubeagu. He was tortured, incarcerated and denied his basic right for weeks.   “I want to also recall what happened to our party in Anambra State when our governorship candidate, Hon. Obiora Agbasimelo, was kidnapped at the heart of the campaign and as I speak, nothing has been heard about him.    

“Our women leader in Kaduna State was also brutally murdered. Two more persons were also killed in that state.   “Only recently, our campaign rally in Lagos was attacked and several of our members were injured and their property vandalised. We also gathered that one of the victims of that mindless attack was amputated a few days ago.  

“This killing in Enugu State is the climax of it all. This is certainly a threat to democracy and to the 2023 general election where candidates are not secured and are killed.  

 “The Labour Party is therefore calling on the INEC to postpone the election in Enugu East senatorial district to enable us conduct a fresh primaries and participate in the election.”  

  Abure said the call became necessary as Enugu was one of the states where the party enjoys maximum support with its candidate already on course to win the Enugu East senatorial seat in this election.  

Consequently, he called on INEC not to “allow people to benefit or win election through other means, particularly by silencing a candidate who is loved by his people.”