By Adewumi Ademiju
The Peoples Party of Nigeria has announced its withdrawal from participating in the Saturday’s re-run election for Gokana State Constituency of River State in protest over conduct of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
PPN National Chairman Razak Eyiowuawi and National Secretary Alhaji Ibrahim Garba Yakasai, who said the re-run election amounted to the electoral body’s double standard, said “All INEC needs to do is to call for the unit results in their possession as done in other local governments rather than call for a re-run”.
The party stated this in a letter to the INEC National Chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, dated April 10 and made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, entitled “Notice of non-participation in the re-run election of Gokana State Constituency slated for Saturday”.
It stated: “Our party and candidate will not participate in the re-run election and ask for our exclusion as the result with us showed that we won the 9th March, 2019 election and urge INEC to declare same.
“PPN which candidate contested for the Gokana State Constituency seat of River State on March 9, 2019 is aware that the election was conducted, votes counted, announced and recorded at various polling units and ward levels.
“We are also aware that the final collation was ongoing at the local government level before it was put on hold due to security threat and all results kept in the custody of the police and same results moved to INEC State Office by police and INEC official.
“The PPN has copies of all unit results and given at the polling unit level to our party agents. We are therefore surprised by the decision of INEC ordering a re-run in Gokana State Constituency when results and various unit levels is in their custody,” Eyiowuawi and Yakasai stated.