The Ogun State chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has dropped its appeal contesting the results of the state’s March 18 governorship election.
On March 19, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that Abiodun had won the race after receiving 276,298 votes to defeat Ladi Adebutu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who received 262,383 votes.
Biyi Otegbeye, a candidate for the Africa Democratic Party (ADP), finished third with 94,754 votes.
However, the PDP and other parties, including the NNPP, disagreed with the election’s results and appealed them to the state election petition tribunal.
Sunday Oginni, the state’s NNPP chairman, announced at a news conference held at the party headquarters on Sunday in Abeokuta.
He declared: “The Ogun State chapter of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, led by Comrade Olaposi Oginni Sunday, hereby leave the court and withdraw the lawsuit with petition number: EPT/OG/GOV/01/2023.
He said that despite having a compelling argument, he desires to inform the tribunal of the party’s decision to withdraw the petition. Not because they don’t think the legal system will uphold our rights, but rather for the reasons listed below, is why we are taking this action.
Even though the INEC did not follow an election act that required the name and logo to be on the ballot, they realized this on that same date (March 18). Some of the NNPP’s candidates received votes from the electorate, and some of them did well in some areas. For instance, in Kano State, our party’s nominee for governor and the NNPP’s candidates for the House of Assembly and the Representatives were both declared winners.
