The Labour Party in Ogun state has approached a Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta ,seeking N500 million damages from the Independent National Electoral Commission for excluding it’s logo and name from the ballot papers for the Governorship election in the state.
The Party also joined the Resident Electoral Commissioner ,AbdulGaniy Raji; the All Progressives Congress and it’s Governorship candidate ,Dapo Abiodun ; the Allied People’s Movement and it’s candidate ,Adekunle Akinlade and the African Democratic Congress and it’s candidate ,Gboyega Isiaka in the suit marked FHC/AB/FHR/44/19 .
The Secretary of the party, Sunday Oginni; the party and two others ; Ibrahim Babalola and Segun Oloyede who were chairmen of the party in Abeokuta South and Odeda local government areas of the state were the third and fourth applicants respectively in the suit .
The applicants in the suit, in a motion on notice ,obtained by Openlife sought a declaration of the court on the non-inclusion of the labour party in the ballot papers for Governorship election conducted on March 9,2019 as illegal.
The party also sought the reliefs of the court for the declaration that the disenfranchisement of its teeming supporters of INEC by not including the logo of the party in the ballot paper is unconstitutional ,illegal ,null and void .
The applicants seek “an order of court nullifying the Governorship election held on the March 9,2019, having not complied with the constitutional provision as enshrined in section 40 of 1999 constitution as amended .
“An order of the honourable court compelling the first and second (INEC and REC) respondents to pay jointly the sum of N500,000,000.00 (five hundred million naira only) as damages for unlawful exclusion of the first applicant logo and disenfranchisement of party members and supporters from casting their lawful votes the party of their choice”.
The INEC has declared the Governorship candidate of the APC as winner of the election and returned elected .
While Akinlade emerged first runner up , Isiaka emerged second runner up in the election .
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