CNPP Urges Opposition To Plan Early For 2015 Polls

Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) in Enugu, Mr Adonis Igwe, has tasked political parties in the country to plan early for the 2015 general elections.

Adonis told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Tuesday that early preparations would  give the opposition parties the opportunity to challenge the ruling party.

“Now elections have started taking place in Nigeria, all political parties leaderships are being advised to see what they can do, to reactivate all their ward supporters and local government supporters and create a good awareness.

“We are participating, it shows a good democracy. It will make every election credible. So it is no more one party system.

“All political parties should start working hard to be in all the wards, in all the local governments and all the states so that their relevance will be witnessed in the federation.”

On the just concluded council elections in the state, Igwe attributed the low participation of the opposition parties to their inability to challenge the ruling party in the state.

“It takes a strong party, a party that is on the ground that knows its strength at the local government or wards to contest along with the leading party because of its spread.

“It discourages so many of them.”

The CNPP chairman, however, commended the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) for conducting peaceful council elections.

Only seven of the 60 political parties participated in the 10 December council polls in the state with the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) winning only one councillorship seat in Eha-Amufu in Isiuzo LGA.

Other parties that contested in the elections were Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), Republican Party of Nigeria (RPN) and Labour Party (LP).

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won all the 17 chairmanship seats and 259 wards in the state.