ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Cross River, Wilfred Bonse, says the party will sue the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for omitting the party’s logo from ballot papers.
Mr. Bonse, who spoke with journalists on Sunday in Ogoja, said he was disappointed over the conduct of the governorship and house of assembly elections in the State.
“NNPP was not represented at all in the governorship ballot paper, and that’s not acceptable.
“We are going to sue for wrongful exclusion. We intend to take this to the highest possible level to ensure we get redress,” he said.
He noted that the party had earlier written a letter to INEC to ensure the inclusion of his party’s name on the ballot paper instead of only the logo.
The NNPP gubernatorial candidate said he was denied the opportunity to vote for himself and have the Cross River people vote for him.
Also, Carolyn Williams, the NNPP senatorial candidate for Cross River North in the recently concluded presidential and national assembly elections held on 25 February, said she was also on the ground to cast her vote in her polling unit at Mbube East, Ward II.
Ms Williams, however, expressed disappointment at the turn of events, adding that justice must prevail for NNPP.
“Well, I didn’t expect INEC to act differently. They had deliberately erased NNPP from the 2023 elections in Cross River. First, it was my senatorial and the presidential election.
“We raised concerns about the party’s logo and our absence from the ballot, but nothing, absolutely nothing, was done to correct the deliberate act by INEC,” she said.
Simon Akpa, INEC Assistant Electoral Officer for Ogoja, said he was unaware of the issue as it had not been formally reported to INEC on Sunday.
Mr Akpa, however, said that if the report was true and what was obtainable not just in Ogoja or Boki but also in other parts of the state, then the party had the constitutional right to file an official complaint to INEC for further investigation.
“The complaint has to be officially transmitted from the national level of NNPP to INEC. At that level, the commission will give prompt attention to the issue.
“However, if the issue was a peculiar one to a particular local government area and not a general concern, the complaint might not really hold water.
“But if the same concerns were raised and observed all over the state, then it will definitely be looked into by the electoral commission,” he said.
NAN.