*As over 2,500 PDP members defect to APC in Ebonyi
From Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki
Barrister Chinedu Uburu has expressed confidence about his victory in the ongoing Ebonyi Local Government Chairmanship election following the assurances given to him by his council people.
Barrister Chinedu Uburu, the Ebonyi LG APC Chairmanship Candidate casting his vote during the Ebonyi council election at his Polling Unit 003 - Onyirigbo Ishieke Primary School, Egwudinagu Ward in Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
Our correspondent reports that over 2,500 members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP yesterday defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in Ebonyi State.
The APC Chairmanship Candidate in Ebonyi Local Government Area, Barrister Chinedu Uburu confirmed this, Saturday while interacting with Journalists at his polling unit 003, Onyirigbo Ishieke Primary School, Egwudinagu Ward in the council area.
He further expressed optimism about his victory in the election following the overwhelming support of the council people.
Barrister Uburu said that the council election has been very peaceful, commending his people for turning out massively to support him during the exercise at their various polling units.
"From my observation, I know people are on the ground for the APC. This means that the APC is a political party loved by all in Ebonyi Local Government Area and Ebonyi State at large," he said.
He said enough security agents were mobilized to ensure peaceful conduct of the election, expressing satisfaction over the conduct of the electoral officials during the exercise
He recalled: "Yesterday, the PDP members cutting across all the wards in Ebonyi Local Government Area, defected to our great party, the APC.
"It's a welcome development because we welcomed about 2,500 from the PDP to the APC. The defectors cut across the wards in Ebonyi LGA. Some are from Mbeke, Egwudinagu, Ndiebor, Diego and the rest of the other wards.
"As you can see we have no other political parties in Ebonyi Local Government Area except the APC. So, the defectors are ready to work with us to achieve the desired success."
Speaking about his expectation at the end of the exercise, Barrister Uburu said: "I expect to win the election, I expect to be congratulated as the winner of the exercise."
On his part, the Supervisory Officer of the election in Egwudinagu Ward in Ebonyi LGA, Dr Simon Nwankwo told journalists that everything concerning the exercise was moving on peacefully.
He said that the candidates of the different political parties that participated in the election were ably represented by their agents.
He confirmed that "there are massive voters in the polling units visited so far, during the election.
While advising the candidates, Nwankwo said, "in every election, there must be a winner. Therefore, those who may not become winners of today's election should be free to join hands with the winner to move the council forward, and vice versa.
"For now, we don't know who is winning or who is losing, but we want to make sure there is a transparent conduct in this election."
The Returning Officer of the Election in Egwudinagu Ward - Mr Basil Nwangbo and the Presiding Officer of Polling Unit 003 - Onyirigbo Ishieke Primary School in Ebonyi Local Government Area of the State, confirmed the election was going on peacefully.
