S’East NUJ urges residents to ‎update their voting strength

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), South East Zone wants residents of the area to take advantage of the ongoing voter registration exercise to update their voting strength.

The union also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fill the vacant position of the South East National Commissioner in the commission.

These were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of an expanded NUJ Zone ‘C’ meeting on Friday in Enugu.

The Communique was read by the NUJ National Vice President for the zone, Mr. Chris Isiguzo.

Isiguzo said that the office of the INEC national commissioner for the zone had been vacant for more than one year, adding that such was unacceptable to the people.

He said that the calls had become necessary as the nation was at the eve of an election year when chances were not supposed to be taken.

The vice president commended the INEC on the successful conduct of the governorship election in Anambra as well as the conduct of the senatorial election for Anambra Central.

He said that such levels of performances were also expected from the electoral umpire in the 2019 general elections.

Isiguzo appealed to governors from the area to take an informed and unanimous decision on the establishment of cattle colonies as proposed by the Federal Government.

“The union calls on the houses of assembly in the South East to endorse the Local Government Autonomy in the ongoing constitutional amendment process.

“We commend the Federal Government for the award of road contracts for the rehabilitation of the 9th Mile-Otukpo-Markudi and the Enugu-Port Harcourt roads and appeal to the contractors to expedite actions on the roads.

“We equally appeal to the Federal Government to extend the road rehabilitation to other federal roads in the zone,” he said.

Isiguzo said that the union condemned the lingering hike in prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in parts of the country and appealed to government to arrest the situation.

“South East is a component of Nigeria. The Federal Government, therefore, should accommodate it in all spheres of national issues including the National Security Council where it is not represented.

“We also condemn the recent killings by suspected herdsmen in parts of the country and urge the Federal Government to take steps to stop the carnage,” he said.

He appealed to members of the union to take advantage of the ongoing NUJ biometric registration to update their membership and ensure prompt payment of their check-off dues.

Isiguzo said that the union was grateful to Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State for his assistance in the hosting of the event.

By Moses Oyediran, Enugu