24th February, 2023
By Segun Giwa
Labour Party (LP) has decried the exclusion of its logo on the ballot papers to be used in the Ondo Central Senatorial District and five federal constituencies elections in the state.
The federal constituencies are; Akoko Southwest/Akoko Southeast, Ondo East/Ondo West, Akure North/Akure South, Okitipupa/Irele and Ese-Odo/Ilaje.
Ondo secretary of Labour Party, Mr Abiodun Agbaje, stated this on Friday in Akure during a news conference.
Agbaje said names of the party’s candidates in the state were sent to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but was surprised that the party’s logo was omitted from the ballot papers.
“Our representatives went to INEC for sorting out for electoral materials to be sent to various wards and discovered that LP logo is missing for the Senatorial and House of Representatives where we have candidates.
“INEC should give us opportunity to participate or postpone the election. Our candidates should be given opportunity to exercise their rights.
“We are here to express our displeasure. We expect INEC to do the needful. It was a deliberate act. I do not think if any agency of government supersedes the judiciary that gave us judgment.
“Our party primary was conducted across the federation. INEC acknowledged the letter from our party in October last year. You cannot vote without the logo of the party. The logo of the party appeared in Ondo North Senatorial District.
“Our candidates were not initially uploaded on the portal on the fault of INEC and not the party. Names of all the candidates were forwarded to INEC,” he said.
Also, the House of Representatives candidate for Akoko South East/South West federal Constituency, Adeyeri Kunle, said the omission would disenfranchise their supporters.
“On Feb. 2, 2023, Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to accept the nomination of candidates of the Labour Party in 24 States.
“The court further ordered that the commission must accept the list of senatorial and House of Representatives candidates particularly in Ondo State, either manually or through its electronic nomination portal,” he said.