The Ogun State chapter of the New Nigeria People’s Party, on Sunday, announced the withdrawal of its petition challenging the omission of its name and logo for the March 18 governorship election in the state.
The NNPP sued the Independent National Electoral Commission, while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Governor Dapo Abiodun, who was declared winner of the election, was also joined as a party to the suit.
But the Ogun State Chairman of the NNPP, Sunday Oginni, who addressed a press conference on Sunday at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta, said the party had decided to withdraw its petition.
The NNPP, however, warned INEC against future omission of its name and logo from ballot papers.
Oginni said, “The New Nigeria People’s Party, Ogun State chapter under the leadership of Olaposi Oginni, on Sunday hereby steps out of court and withdraws the suit with petition number: EPT/OG/GOV/01/2023.
“We know that despite the absence of our party’s name on the ballot papers, we still managed to win elections in some states. As we celebrate with our dear brothers in other states for their victory, we don’t want to create another problem for their victory by bringing issues that may create constitutional problems and be counter productive to the development of the party.
“We are doing this, not because we don’t believe we will get justice from the judicial system, but because we came to realise that on that same date (March 18), despite the fact that the INEC did not comply with Electoral Act that stipulated that the name and logo must be on the ballot, the electorate still managed to vote for some NNPP candidates and some of our candidates won in some places.
“For example, in Kano State, the governorship candidate of our party and candidates of NNPP for the State House of Assembly and House of Representatives were declared winners.”
Oginni however, called on INEC to pay attention to details and ensure that things were properly done for all political parties.
“INEC, as an unbiased umpire and supervisor of our election, must make sure that political parties are there to do the right thing at all times while they also make sure they pay attention to details,” Oginni added.
He said with the withdrawal of the petition, the NNPP Ogun State chapter was going back to the drawing board and plan ahead for the 2027 general elections.
