From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has insisted that Ladi Adebutu remains its governorship candidate in Ogun State, in the March 2 gubernatorial poll.

Speaking at a press briefing, in Abuja, yesterday, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP,  Kola Ologbondiyan,  charged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, to obey the December 18, 2018 Appeal Court judgment, which affirmed Adebutu as its governorship candidate in Ogun State.

There has been controversy over who is the authentic governorship candidate of the opposition party in Ogun State,  with Adebutu and Senator Buruji Kashamu laying claims to the ticket. However, Ologbondiyan said Kashamu is not a member of the opposition party, and neither obtained the governorship nomination forms nor participated in the gubernatorial primary.

Therefore, the opposition spokesman cautioned Yakubu to insulate the electoral body from unnecessary controversies, by immediately recognising Adebutu as the PDP governorship candidate,  in the interest of a hitch-free and peaceful election in Ogun state.

He said: “Ladi Adebutu’s name was duly and statutorily submitted to INEC, after he won the governorship primary conducted by the National Working Committee (NWC), the only body empowered by law to conduct such primaries. The PDP has not substituted his nomination with anybody, and such is not in our contemplation.

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“The PDP charges the INEC Chairman to note that since the ruling of the Court of Appeal validating Hon. Ladi Adebutu as the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun state, no other court, not even the Supreme Court has over turned that extant ruling.

“INEC is therefore compelled to obey the law. It cannot choose for itself which judgment to obey and cannot operate in waiting, anticipation or contemplation of a non-existent consideration in the conduct of the Ogun governorship election.

“In this regard, the PDP urges all Nigerians, particularly the people of Ogun state, to completely disregard certain individuals, including Senator Kashamu Buruji, who has been making misleading comments and trying to create an impression that the Supreme Court has made a pronouncement on the issue.

“Moreover, the PDP holds that Senator Buruji cannot under any imagination be the governorship candidate of the PDP in Ogun state. He is not a member of our party; he did not participate in our Ogun state governorship primary and has no connection whatsoever in our governorship nomination process at any level for that matter.

“INEC cannot go to the streets to pick a candidate for our party. It must therefore, in compliance with the extant judgment of the Court of Appeal, immediately reflect Ladi Adebutu’s name in the ballot, otherwise Nigerians will have no other option than to conclude that Professor Mahmood Yakubu has become compromised to cause confusion and anarchy in Ogun state.”