The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asserted that the upcoming November 11 governorship election in Imo State is not necessarily bound to proceed as scheduled.
Uchenna Ekwe, the NLC Head of International Relations, made this declaration during an interview on Wednesday. Ekwe emphasized that the Imo populace has been subjected to relentless violence, rendering the election ineffective.
He further stated that Imo workers have lost faith in the election’s ability to bring about any meaningful change.
Ekwe questioned, “Talking about the election, in Imo in particular, did the votes count? How did he (Hope Uzodinma) become governor? In Imo, is the place not terrorized?”
“Go to Imo I challenge you, you won’t see a poster of any other party, you can’t even see a tiny poster of any other party. Get feedback from your correspondents in Imo, ask them in the whole street on Owerri whether there is a poster of any other party,” he challenged.
Ekwe expressed skepticism regarding the prospect of a credible election, citing the disruption of an INEC meeting. He maintained that workers and the general populace have lost confidence in the election’s ability to yield positive outcomes.
“How can you say the election is coming up, INEC meeting was disrupted, how can you hope that there will be any election, we don’t have faith, even the workers don’t have faith that the election will determine anything, that is the truth,” Ekwe asserted.
“We don’t believe election in Imo will produce anything because the Imo people have been crushed, violence has taken over the place. We are not telling them not to come out to vote but the people will be scared to come out,” he added.
Ekwe said the world would not crumble if the election did not take place as planned.
“Must there be an election in Imo, will the world end? Will the world end if there is no election in Imo State? No, the world would not end, we are not disrupting the election,” he concluded.
