The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it will challenge the outcome of the March 18 Governorship election in Cross River.

This is contained in a statement by its Governorship candidate in the state, Sen. Sandy Onor, and made available to newsmen in Calabar on Sunday.

He said that the need to contest the outcome of the poll was the fact that it fell short of the expectation of a free and fair election as promised by the electoral body.

He noted that the decision was arrived at after consultations with relevant stakeholders of the party.

According to him, the fundamental norm of every contest is that there must be a winner and a loser, but the contest must also be free, fair, and credible but not the March 18 poll which 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.

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“Indeed, the election of Saturday 18th March 2023 was characterized by outright vote buying, intimidation of voters, and violence, which regrettably led to the loss of lives.

“We express our heartfelt sympathies to the families of these heroes of democracy. We assure you that the perpetrators of this crime shall be brought to justice, if not by man, but by God.

“We have consulted with our legal and technical teams as well as stakeholders to review the entire electoral process and have come to the inescapable conclusion that we must seek legal redress.

“This is tailored to meet the yearnings and aspirations of a vast majority of Cross Riverians. We are confident that we will get justice.”

Onor appealed to the teeming supporters of the party across the state to remain calm and be law-abiding.

It would be recalled that the INEC had declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Bassey Otu, winner of the election after he secured 258,619 votes to defeat Onor of the PDP who got 179,636 votes.