Ondo State chapter of the New Nigeria People’s Party has called on the Nigeria Police Force to arrest and prosecute the destroyers of the party’s billboards in the state.
The party’s Publicity Secretary in the state, Sam Olumekun, made the call in Akure on Thursday.
He said that there was an urgent need to stop the trend to prevent it from degenerating into a crisis, according to Daily Post.
Sanusi said that a faceless group had been destroying the billboards of its governorship aspirants to prevent it from unseating the ruling party in the state.
In his words, “NNPP is the main opposition party in Ondo State, the destruction of party aspirants’ billboards could degenerate into a crisis. We appeal to security operatives to stop the trend.”
He said that NNPP would not have reacted to the development but realised that if the trend was not contained, other party faithful could do the same, leading to disruption of a peaceful election.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had slated the off-cycle governorship elections in Ondo State on November 16, 2024.
The commission’s Spokesperson, Sam Olumekun, said the tenure of the Governor of Ondo State will end on February 23, 2025.
As provided in Section 178 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), election into the said office shall be held not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the tenure of the last holder of the office,” INEC stated.
Ondo State is among the eight Nigerian states whose governorship elections are held outside the general elections cycle due to the outcomes of previous litigations.
The others are Anambra, Osun, Edo, Ekiti, Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states.