Opposition Parties Call For Postponement Of Niger State Guber Poll

Source: THEWILL. - thewillnigeria.com

MINNA, April 24, (THEWILL) – Opposition political parties in Niger State have called for the postponement of the Governorship election in the state scheduled for April 26, 2011 as a result of the discovery that logos of some political parties are missing from ballot papers already printed for the governorship election in the state.

The party’s have also rejected moves by INEC to use run-off ballots as substitute for the election.

THEWILL checks revealed that the logos of the Citizens Popular Party (CPP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) were omitted from the ballot.

Representatives of parties in the state on Sunday in Minna met with the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Dr. Emmanuel Onucheyo, where they made their position known.

Spokesman of the delegation Alhaji Aminu Bello of the Action Congress of Nigeria, who led the ANPP and the CPC representatives, insisted that they would not be part of the election unless INEC rectifies the problem.

In his explanation to the representatives, Onucheyo said he was instructed by INEC headquarters to conduct the election using the runoff ballots which he said had all the logos of the parties cleared to contest in the poll. He further explained that the runoff ballot was a legal alternative to the ballot paper proper.

As at press time, it was unclear if the political parties and INEC have reached an amicable settlement.