Labour Party Show Concern Regarding Ondo Ballots’ Missing Name and Logo
Members of the Labour Party (LP) in Ondo have expressed concern about the absence of the party’s logo on the ballots distributed to the state ahead of tomorrow’s elections.
Less than 12 hours remain until nationwide votes for the president and the national legislature.
On February 25, voters in the state would turn out to exercise their right to vote in the general elections.
When Labour Party realized that its name and emblem were absent from the ballots that were sent to Ondo for the National Assembly election, Abiodun Agbaje, the LP’s Ondo State Secretary, told reporters in Akure.
Mr. Agbaje notably bemoaned the absence of the LP logo for the state’s candidates for the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The exclusion, he said, “is outrageous and also a wicked manner of disenfranchising Ondo electorates who are preparing to vote for the Labour Party in the state in the election tomorrow.”
He claimed that an examination of the electoral materials distributed to the Ondo senatorial districts revealed the omission.
The central senatorial district of Ondo, Akoko North West/North East, Akoko Southwest/Southeast, Akure North/South, Okitipupa/Irele, Ilaje/Ese-Odo, and Ondo East/West were among the areas he identified.
The impacted party’s candidate for the Ondo House of Representatives, Stephen Adeyeri, condemned the omission as a purposeful act.
This is terrible, and we think INEC can fix it so that our supporters are not prevented from enjoying their civic rights, which is unacceptable, said Mr. Adeyeri.
Thereafter, he encouraged the electoral organization to postpone the poll in the affected areas until the electoral body corrects the error.
“We were shocked to see that our party’s emblem was purposefully omitted off the ballot paper when our representatives went to the INEC office today to sift the electoral materials.
He stated, “We are pleading with the INEC to take the necessary action, to either allow us to participate in the election or postpone the election.”
Mr. Adeyeri continued by saying that Labour Party fans and members would be upset if they discovered that the ballot paper was missing the Labour Party emblem when they arrived at the polls on Saturday.
Oyetola Oyelami, the acting Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo, could not be reached for comment right away.
The electoral authority was concerned about the incident, according to an INEC office source who talked with DiaporaInfo over the phone.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, informed our reporter, “Honestly, we are also perplexed, and all the materials have been dispatched to the 18 LGAs for tomorrow’s poll.”
