Ogunbiyi condemns results of Osun PDP primary election

Ogunbiyi condemns results of Osun PDP primary election

- One of the governorship aspirants of the PDP in Osun state, Akin Ogunbiyi has condemned the results of the primary election

- Ogunbiyi said the primary election was rigged and this characterised the conduct and outcome of the party’s gubernatorial primaries

- The governorship aspirant alleged that the senior secondary testimonial Adeleke submitted was not sufficient to meet the basic qualifications

Akin Ogunbiyi, Osun state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant, has petitioned the party’s leadership, alleging the rigging of the party’s primary in favour of Senator Ademola Adeleke, The Punch reports.

Legit.ng gathered that Ogunbiyi who rejected the poll’s result which declared the serving senator winner of the Osun state PDP governorship primary insisted that it was rigged in Adeleke’s favour.

Ogunbiyi, who came behind Adeleke with only seven votes, in a statement on Tuesday, July 24, alleged that the primary was fraught with malpractices, particularly violation of Section 177 (d) of the Nigerian constitution by Adeleke.

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The PDP governorship aspirant said contrary to the requirement of Section 177(d) of Nigeria’s constitution, Adeleke had no secondary school certificate and was not qualified, in the first place, to have contested the primary.

He said: “Senator Ademola Adeleke submitted a document purported to be a testimonial as evidence that he was educated up to the senior secondary; a document which does not suffice to meet the basic qualifications stipulated by the constitution and the Electoral Act.

“The date of issue on the purported testimonial submitted by Senator Adeleke was altered with a pen. The Principal of Muslim Grammar School, Ede, Osun State, Mr Khalid Abbas, who purportedly signed the testimonial, had not been posted to the school in question as of the date indicated on the document.

“The principal, who purportedly issued the testimonial to Senator Adeleke, has denied ever issuing or signing it and the denial is very well on record."

Ogunbiyi warned that if the allegation was not addressed, the party might not have an eligible candidate for the September 22, governorship election.

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“Contrary to Section 30(e) of the Electoral Guidelines for Primary Elections 2018, the total number of delegates accredited for the primary election was not announced before the commencement of voting.

However, at the end of the exercise, the chairman of the panel announced 3,246 as total accredited delegates, which is contrary to figures subsequently entered on the result sheet as 3,242,” he added.

In another development, two members of the PDP in Osun state Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu have approached the Osun state high court, seeking Adeleke’s disqualification on the alleged grounds that he lacked requisite certification.

PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus, Osun state PDP chairman, Soji Adagunodo, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were joined defendants in the suit, filed on Monday, July 23.

The plaintiffs are praying for an interlocutory order setting aside Adeleke’s victory at the primary. The party members urged the court to restrain the PDP from forwarding Adeleke’s name to INEC as its candidate for the governorship election.

They equally prayed the court to restrain INEC from accepting Adeleke as the PDP flag bearer, should his name be sent to the election umpire.

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Legit.ng previously reported that the senator representing Osun West senatorial district at the Senate, Ademola Adeleke, has been declared the winner of the PDP gubernatorial election held on Saturday, July 21, in the state.

Ademola who is the younger brother of the first civilian governor of the state, late Isiaka Adeleke, polled 1,569 votes to defeat his closest rival, Akin Ogunbiyi, who polled 1,562 votes.

It was earlier reported that seven aspirants stepped down and thus made the contest to be among Ademola Adeleke, Akin Ogunbiyi, the former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Fatai Akinbade and Nathaniel Oke.

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Source: Legit.ng

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