Amb. Wilfred Bonse, the governorship candidate, New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Cross River said the party will sue the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for removing the party logo from the ballot papers.
Bonse, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ogoja said he was disappointed by the conduct of the governorship and councilorship elections in the state.
He noted that the party had earlier written a letter to INEC to ensure that the name of the party was on the ballot paper, instead of just the logo.
NAN reports that the governorship election was largely peaceful in Ogoja and Boki local government areas of Cross River.
The NNPP gubernatorial candidate for Cross River said he was denied the opportunity to vote for him and have the people of Cross River vote for him.
Bonse said the party would sue INEC for removing the wrong logo from the ballot paper.
“This is a very interesting election, and I did not have the opportunity to vote myself because I was mistakenly excluded from the ballot.
“NNPP is not represented on the gubernatorial ballot paper, and cannot be accepted.
“We will be suing the wrongful exclusion. We are going to take this to the highest level to make sure we get compensation
“It is wrong for INEC to let the process go, then they print ballot papers for the election and exclude us.
“So, this is just the beginning and certainly not the end,” he said.
Also, Carolyn Williams, the NNPP Senatorial Candidate for Cross River North in the just concluded presidential and national elections on February 25, said she is also on the ground to vote in the polling unit in Mbube East, Ward II.
Williams, however, expressed disappointment at the turn of events, adding that justice must be done for the NNPP.
“Well, I did not expect INEC to act differently. He deliberately removed the NNPP from the 2023 election in Cross River. First, these are senatorial and presidential elections.
“We raised our concerns about the party logo and its absence from the ballot, but nothing, nothing has been done to correct the deliberate action by INEC.
“This is completely unfair to me and our gubernatorial candidate,” he said.
Simon Akpa, INEC, Assistant Electoral Officer for Ogoja told NAN that he was not aware of the issue as it had not been formally reported to INEC on Sunday.
Akpa, however, said that if the report is true and if it can be obtained not only in Ogoja or Boki but also in other parts of the country, then the party has the constitutional right to file a formal complaint to INEC for further investigation.
“The complaint should be sent formally from the national level of the NNPP to INEC. At that level, the commission will give prompt attention to the matter.
“However, if the issue is specific to the local government area and not a general issue, the complaint may not hold water.
“But if the same concerns are raised and observed across the country, it will be investigated by the election commission,” he said.