Don’t Rejoice Yet, PPP Tells Wike, Ganduje As Party Goes To Tribunal

The Peoples Progressive Party, PPP has asked the election petition tribunal in Rivers and Kano states to nullify the governorship elections of Governors Nyesom Wike and Abdullahi Ganduje held in the two states.

The PPP says it is calling for the nullification of the elections and the conduct of a fresh one because the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC, unlawfully excluded its governorship candidates in the two states from participating in the elections.

The National Legal Adviser of the party, Chibuzor Ezike, revealed this in a statement, contending that the unlawful exclusion of the party’s governorship candidates by INEC was in violation of subsisting court judgment.

Ezike said: “The PPP, after the nomination of its governorship candidates for the March 9 election, was not allowed to submit the names of its validly nominated candidates.

“This made the party to drag INEC to court before the election. The court delivered final judgment, days before the scheduled election and ordered INEC to include the party’s candidates to avoid exclusion.

“The judgment was served on INEC before the March 9 election, but surprisingly, INEC went ahead in disobedience of the valid judgment and conducted the election in Kano and Rivers with the exclusion of the PPP candidates.

“That action put the elections in those two states in legal jeopardy with the possibility of nullification of the elections in Rivers and Kano to pave the way for a fresh governorship election, a situation that could have been avoided.”

The party which described itself as a widely popular party with distinct ideology, claimed that it’s candidates were excluded out of fear of their popularity.

Wike and Ganduje won their re-elections under the platforms of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressives Party, APC in the March 23 guber polls amidst allegations of rigging and other electoral malpractices by the major opposition candidates in the contest.