A governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Jimi Lawal, has asked the Senator Iyorchia Ayu-led national leadership of the party to cancel the party governorship primaries in the state to avoid litigation.
Lawal, an associate of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, said this in a letter of complaint titled “complaint of manipulation of Ogun State PDP delegates list in the Ogun State Governorship primaries.”
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The London trained banker alleged that the delegates list used was fake
He threatened litigation if the party fails to investigate the allegation, cancel the primary and order for another one, having discovered that the delegates list used at the primary was fake.
The party had held its governorship primary in the state on Thursday which produced a former member of the house of Representatives from Remo-North constituency, Oladipupo Adebutu as the candidate.
A parallel primary of the party held the same day produced a Governorship aspirant, Segun Showunmi, making the party to have two candidates.
The third aspirant, Lawal, who participated in the primary that produced Adebutu stormed out shortly after the commencement of the exercise over the controversies on the delegates to be used.
In the letter through the lawyers from the law office of Frank Tietie, Esq, Lawal claimed that the authentic list was manipulated to contain names of people that were not elected at the State Ward congress.
According to him, the development led to the existence of two lists – one that is authentic and containing the truly and correctly elected and the fake list .
The petition reads “We are a firm of solicitors and barristers whose services have been retained by Otunba Jimi Adebisi Lawal (JAL), a governorship aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State and hereby raise the alarm on the use of a fake delegates’ list in the conduct of the May 25th governorship primaries elections of the PDP in the state.
“This use of the fake and manipulated delegates’ list was first observed during the just concluded primaries which
were held on the 21st of May 2022 to elect the party’s candidates for the State House of Assembly elections. Thus, the authentic list was manipulated to include new and unfounded names that were not elected at the State ward congress, thereby giving rise to two lists- one that is authentic and containing the truly and correctly elected delegates as against the other list that was manipulated and ralied upon by the national officials of the party that conducted the primaries elections in the state.
“The concern therefore is that the said fake list was used in the just concluded governorship primaries which mars the whole exercise, makes it illegitimate and would be subjected to litigation if the national leadership of the party does not immediately investigate and confirm the irregularity and, nullify it.”
In his request , Lawal asked the party leadership to compare the two lists and do the needful to ensure transparency and credibility of the primaries of the PDP in the state.
