The Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has endorsed Osun State Governor and Accord Party governorship candidate, Ademola Adeleke, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
The faction announced its decision in a statement issued on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, following a Court of Appeal judgment on the party’s candidate for the election.
The appellate court, sitting in Abuja, upheld the nomination of Adebayo Adedamola as the PDP governorship candidate and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to include the PDP logo on the ballot for the August 15 election.
According to the faction, the court held that the PDP conducted its governorship primary under INEC monitoring and forwarded the winner’s name to the electoral commission.
It also said the court ruled that the access code required for nomination on INEC’s online portal was merely an administrative requirement and could not override the statutory requirement for political parties to submit their candidates’ names.
However, the Turaki-led faction criticised INEC’s handling of the nomination process, alleging that the commission failed to recognise its candidate and withheld the necessary codes for uploading the candidate’s details.
The faction said the court judgment came too late for its candidate to campaign effectively ahead of Saturday’s election.
“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 faction said it had therefore decided, after consultations with key stakeholders, to support Adeleke in the election rather than abandon its members and supporters.
It described Adeleke as a former member of the PDP who left the party following what it described as a state-engineered and funded leadership conflict.
“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 faction urged its members to vote for Adeleke, defend their votes and ensure that their ballots count during the election.
It also accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of pursuing what it described as a “do or die” approach to elections and called on Nigerians to resist attempts to undermine the will of voters.
The faction maintained that elections should reflect the freely expressed wishes of the people, warning that anything contrary would amount to electoral injustice.
