Amb. Wilfred Bonse, the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Cross River, has announced that the party will challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for omitting the party’s logo from ballot papers.
Bonse told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ogoja that he was unhappy with the state’s governorship and house of assembly elections.
He stated that his party had previously written a message to INEC requesting that his party’s name be included on the ballot paper rather than just the logo.
According to NAN, the governorship poll in Cross River’s Ogoja and Boki local government areas was mostly peaceful.
The NNPP Gubernatorial candidate for Cross River claimed he was refused the right to vote for himself and have the people of Cross River vote for him.
Bonse stated that the party would challenge INEC for omitting its logo from the ballot papers.
“This is a very interesting election in which I didn’t even have the opportunity to vote for myself because I was wrongfully excluded from the ballot.
“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
“It is wrong for INEC to let us go through the process, then they go all the way and print ballot papers for an election and excluded us.
“So, this is just the beginning and certainly not the last of this,” he explained.
Carolyn Williams, the NNPP Senatorial Candidate for Cross River North in the recently concluded presidential and national assembly elections conducted on February 25, also stated that she was on the ground to vote in her polling unit at Mbube East, Ward II.
Williams, on the other hand, expressed disappointment with the course of events, adding that justice must be served for NNPP.
INEC Assistant Electoral Officer for Ogoja, Simon Akpa, told NAN that he was unaware of the problem because it had not been officially reported to INEC on Sunday.
Akpa, on the other hand, stated that if the report was accurate and what was available not only in Ogoja and Boki, but also in other parts of the state, the party had the constitutional right to submit an official complaint with INEC for further investigation.