…Vows To Seek Redress In Court
By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Cross River State, Senator Prof Sandy Onor, has rejected the result of the just concluded election, vowing to seek redress in court.
Recall that the Independent Natıonal Electoral Commission, INEC, declared the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Prince Bassey Edet Otu, as the governor-elect in the March 18, 2023 governorship election.
Onor’s rejection of the outcome of the poll is coming about a week after the result was declared in favour of the APC candidate.
He insisted that the result of the poll was characterized by gross irregularities.
Onor, who is the incubent lawmaker representing Cross River Central senatorial district at the upper chamber of the National Assembly, described the outcome of the election as a charade, stressing that the result is unacceptable
INEC’s Returning Officer for Cross River State for the governorship election, Prof. Teddy Charles Adias, had last Monday declared the APC candidate, Senator Otu, laso known as Sweet Prince, as winner of the contest after polling 258,619 votes to defeat Onor, who garnered 179, 636 votes.
Only yesterday, the PDP candidate, Senator Onor, in a statement dated March 25, 2023, issued in Calabar yesterday, stated that the fundamental norm of every contest entails that there must be a winner and a loser, but the contest must also be free, fair and credible.
Onor’s statement reads in part, “We are all aware that the said election was marred by a plethora of irregularities. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was neither independent nor impartial.
“INEC officials, aided by security personnel, manipulated the system, altered results at various collation levels and frustrated the will of the majority of Cross Riverians.”
