The Ogun State chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party on Sunday announced the withdrawal of its petition against the Independent National Electoral Commission and the victory of the state governor, Dapo Abiodun.
The chairman of the party in the state, Sunday Oginni disclosed this at a press briefing held at the party secretariat in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
The INEC had declared Abiodun the winner of the March 18, 2023 election.
But, the party filed a petition against Abiodun before the Tribunal over the alleged omission of the party’s name on the ballot papers for the governorship election by INEC.
This, according to the party was a violation of the electoral act.
Addressing newsmen on Sunday, the chairman of the party said, “The New Nigeria Peoples Party, Ogun State chapter under the leadership of Comrade Olaposi Oginni Sunday hereby step out of court and withdraw the suit with petition number: EPT/OG/GOV/01/2023.”
“Despite having a strong case, the party under the leadership of Comrade Sunday Olaposi Oginni wish to announce the party’s intention to withdraw the petition from the Tribunal. We are doing this not because we don’t believe we will get justice from the judicial system, but because of the following reasons;
“We came to realise that on that same date (March 18) despite the fact that the INEC did not comply with an electoral act that stipulated that the name and logo must be on the ballot. The electorates still manage to vote for some of NNPP’s 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 house of assembly and Reps were declared winners.”
Oginni however, called on INEC to pay attention to details and ensure that things are 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 said.
He, therefore, said with the withdrawal of the petition, NNPP Ogun State Chapter is ready to go back to the drawing board and plan ahead on how to win the 2027 election.
