A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) faction has directed its members in Osun State to support Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party in Saturday’s governorship election.
The decision is coming after a Court of Appeal, in a judgment on Thursday, restored the party’s candidate, Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola, to the ballot.
The party’s decision was contained in a statement signed by Ini Ememobong on behalf of the Kabiru Turaki-led PDP faction.
The faction said on Thursday that it took the decision after its lawyers informed the leadership that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had upheld Adedamola’s nomination as the governorship candidate of the faction.
It added that the Court of Appeal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include the party’s logo on the ballot for the August 15 election.
Ememobong further stated that the appellate court held that the party had conducted its governorship primary, which was monitored by INEC, and had forwarded the name of the winner to the commission.
The court, he said, further held that the access code for nomination on INEC’s portal was merely an administrative requirement and could not override the statutory obligation of a political party to forward the name of its candidate to the commission.
Welcoming the judgment, the PDP accused INEC of bias against the party’s legitimate leadership, alleging that the commission had refused to recognise its candidate and withheld the codes required for the uploading of candidates to its portal.
However, the party said the judgment, coming just two days before the election, had effectively left its candidate with no opportunity to campaign and mobilise voters across the state.
“Though justice has finally been done, in this case the grant of justice is akin to a denial as there is no opportunity for our candidate to undertake campaigns in preparation for the elections,” the statement said.
Consequently, the PDP’s Interim National Working Committee said it had, after consultations with key stakeholders, resolved to support Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord Party.
The party described Adeleke as a former member of the PDP who left following what it described as a “state-engineered and funded leadership conflict” within the party.
“To this end, faced with the unimaginable difficulty that this situation puts on us, the Interim National Working Committee has chosen not to throw its hands up in defeat, which would only align with APC’s wicked playbook,” the statement said.
“As a true opposition party and in defence of multi-party democracy, and after exhaustive consultations with key stakeholders, the Committee has decided to support the candidature of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Accord Party for Saturday’s governorship elections.”
The PDP consequently directed its members to vote for Adeleke, urging them to turn out for the election, protect their votes and ensure that their ballots count.
The party also accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of adopting a “do or die” approach to elections and urged Nigerians to resist any attempt to manipulate the outcome of the Osun poll.
“Elections must be a true reflection of the peoples’ wish, freely expressed through the ballot,” the PDP said, adding that anything short of that would amount to “robbery” and should not be allowed to stand.
The development effectively places the PDP behind Adeleke in the election, despite the Court of Appeal’s decision that has restored the party’s candidate and logo to the ballot.
(The Whistler)
