Party Chief Wants Compensation Over Suspended Polls

Five months after the General Election, the Chairman of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Rivers State, Deacon Princewill Enyi has called on the Federal Government to pay compensations to candidates who took part in the suspended April 2nd National Assembly election across the country.

Enyi who stated this in an interview with The Tide, noted that candidates in the said election had spent and incurred debts in mobilizsing supporters and other logistics only for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce the suspension.

He also advanced that INEC who was responsible for the suspension of the election sort for and secured approval for fund from the Senate to enable it handle the subsequent election. According to him “the issue is clear. INEC that was responsible for the suspension sort and got more fund to cushion the effects of the suspended election, so party and candidates who expend huge sums on mobilisation and other logistics should equally be compensated because what is good for the goose is also good for the gender”, he said.

Deacon Enyi who described the development as unfair to the candidates noted that Nigeria being part of the global village should imbibe the sprit of paying compensation to individuals and groups whose rights were being infringed upon by government as it is the trend in the modern world.

The party Chairman who commented on the call for granting of full autonomy to the local government councils challenged leadership of the third tier to be matured, transparent and accountable as to earn the local government councils deserved autonomy.

Accusing leadership of the local government councils in the country of being hijacked by the syndrome of godfatherism, the NNPP boss stressed that until the third tier was free from the strong hold of godfatherism they may not achieve much for the people at the grassroot.

What Nigerians needs, he said, was operation of true federalism and upward review of fund accruable to the states and local government levels.

Chris Oluoh