An aspirant for the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State, Olugbenga Edema, has petitioned the national leadership of the party to disqualify Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa from contesting the primary election slated for April 20.
Sixteen aspirants, including the governor, have already obtained and submitted their expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the APC primary.
Edema, who presented a copy of the petition to journalists, dated April 5, and addressed to the APC National Legal Adviser during a press conference in Abuja, reminded the party of the Supreme Court’s decision in 2019, which annulled the election of David Lyon and his deputy in Bayelsa State on similar grounds.
He emphasised that his intention in bringing the issue to the committee’s attention was not out of animosity towards Aiyedatiwa but to prevent a situation similar to what happened in Bayelsa State from occurring in Ondo State.
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He expressed concern that fielding a candidate with such controversies could lead to losing to the opposition party through the courts. He claimed that PDP aspirants are praying fervently for the APC to field Aiyedatiwa as its candidate in the forthcoming Ondo State governorship election.
However, reacting to the petition, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, told Daily Trust in a telephone interview that the allegation lacked substance and should be disregarded entirely.
In a related development, Governor Aiyedatiwa has issued a 7-day ultimatum to Lagos-based legal practitioner Oladotun Hassan, demanding a public apology and the retraction of false publications regarding his academic records.
This ultimatum follows Hassan’s petition to President Bola Tinubu, the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) regarding Aiyedatiwa’s West African School Certificate Examination (WAEC) result ahead of the governorship election.
But the governor, through his lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, challenged the legitimacy of Hassan’s complaint, stating that Hassan is not a registered voter or indigene of Ondo State and therefore has no grounds to make unsubstantiated allegations of misrepresentation, certificate forgery, examination malpractice, and perjury against him.
