A Mammoth crowd thronged the campaign rallies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Udenu, Igbo Eze North and Igbo Eze South Local Government Areas of Enugu State, as the party vowed to sweep the September 26 council elections.

The rallies, held at the headquarters of the three councils, marked the official flag-off of the APC campaign for the local government polls and attracted party leaders, traditional rulers, market and trade union leaders, women, youths and other supporters.

At the rallies, APC State Chairman, Dr Martin Chukwunweike, presented the party’s flags to its chairmanship and councillorship candidates, urging them to go into the election with confidence and secure victory for the party.

Chukwunweike said the massive turnout demonstrated the growing acceptance of APC in the three LGAs, recalling the support the party received during the June 20 Enugu North Senatorial District by-election. “I’m glad about the massive support for us by the people of Udenu, Igbo Eze North and Igbo Eze South. We’re here to thank you for demonstrating that APC is our party during the June 20 Enugu North by-election, which was a litmus test,” he said.

He expressed confidence that the electorate would repeat the feat on September 26, saying the party had performed well enough in government to make its campaign less difficult. “Our party has performed to the point that we don’t need to campaign too much to get people’s votes. We’re just using this local government election to once again test the microphone for the 2027 election,” Chukwunweike said.

He also rallied support for Governor Peter Mbah’s second-term bid, saying the governor deserved another term because of his performance and not simply because incumbents traditionally seek two terms. He urged the people to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other APC candidates in the 2027 elections.

Senator Ikeje Asogwa, representing Enugu North Senatorial District, recalled the support he received from the three LGAs during the June 20 by-election and urged the electorate to again vote for the APC candidates. He appealed to voters to support Hon. Innocent Ezeoha in Udenu, Hon. Chris Onyekachi Simon in Igbo Eze North and Hon. Ugo Ferdinand Ukwueze in Igbo Eze South.

Hon. Dennis Agbo, representing Udenu/Igbo Eze North Federal Constituency, and Hon. Chidi Obeta, representing Nsukka/Igbo Eze South Federal Constituency, also canvassed votes for the APC, citing the performance of Governor Mbah and the party’s candidates. Agbo said the electorate would appreciate the governor’s development efforts with their votes, while Obeta commended Ukwueze’s performance in Igbo Eze South and described his return ticket as a reward for his achievements.

The APC Southeast Zonal Woman Leader, Dr Oby Aji, expressed confidence in victory, while the Udenu council chairman, Aka Eze Aka, declared that the LGA was firmly behind the APC and would target more than 90 per cent of the votes for the party.

“We’re committed to APC in Udenu LGA. We don’t have another candidate outside Tinubu, Peter Mbah and all others for national and state Assembly seats,” Aka said.

Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Hon. Enyinnaya Ogbonna, attributed the huge turnout at the Udenu rally to the development projects of the Mbah administration, saying the LGA had not been left out of the government’s projects.

He said the APC was fully mobilised to ensure that what happened to the party in 2023 was not repeated, adding that the party would work to win from top to bottom.

The three chairmanship candidates — Ezeoha, Simon and Ukwueze — said they had already taken their campaigns to the grassroots and engaged voters on the need to support the APC.

Speaking on behalf of the candidates, Ezeoha said the party had “watered the ground” through sustained engagement with the electorate and was confident of victory.

“We have already watered the ground to ensure we win this election. We did that by explaining to the people why it should be APC. That’s why you saw this crowd here today. We’re no longer going to find it difficult to win our people’s votes,” he said.

The Executive Chairmen of Igbo Eze North and Igbo Eze South, Uche Ogalla and Ugo Ferdinand Ukwueze, respectively, also expressed confidence that their councils would deliver overwhelming votes for the APC on September 26.

Chukwulota Ofo, popularly known as Messiah Nsukka, said the council elections would provide an opportunity for the APC to demonstrate its strength ahead of the 2027 elections, declaring his full commitment to the party. (The Nation)