INEC will respect court, declare me Ogun PDP governorship candidate ― Adebutu

Ogun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recognised by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, Honourable Ladi Adebutu, on Friday, said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would have no choice but to list him as the validly nominated candidate of the party.

Adebutu, in a statement signed by his media consultant, Afolabi Orekoya, said INEC would not disobey the court but respect the judgments and orders already served on it concerning the rightful PDP candidates in Ogun State.

The statement said some of the judgments included the Court of Appeal judgment which set aside the order asking the commission to accept the list of candidates from the Buruji Kashamu group.

“INEC at a time claimed that the judgments and orders served on it were missing. That was funny because INEC acknowledged these judgments in the letters conveying the judgments.

“There are still other judgments being awaited in respect of who the authentic candidates of the party in Ogun State are. INEC will soon act according to the rule of law once the pending judgments are decided in a couple of days.

“We are resolute that justice will be done and the wish of the people shall prevail. We are not bothered by the published list because we know we will get the mandate back.

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“It is highly disappointing that the growth of our democracy is being hampered by the unscrupulous act of some people who lack integrity and credibility.

“The provisions of the Electoral Act and guidelines are very clear. It is therefore surprising that someone who did not follow any of the processes as provided by the extant laws will be the candidate of the party with a court order.

“It is bastardisation of our democracy and absurd for someone, who did not purchase form, did not attend screening and no primaries conducted by the National Working Committee of the party, to go to court and shop for order and consequently claim he is the candidate of the party.

“It should also be noted that the Appeal Court sitting in Ibadan on 18th December 2018 nullified the Federal High Court order that INEC claimed to have informed its position on the candidate of PDP in Ogun State; yet the needful has not been done by INEC,” Adebutu said.

By this statement, we assure the members of our party, supporters and the good people of Ogun state that true justice will prevail, we also urge them to remain steadfast and continue to stand firm in the belief of our victory at March 2nd elections.

Hon. Ladi Adebutu and his campaign team will not be distracted but remain focused as we are continuing our ward to ward campaign. We will continue to have interactions with our people for the purpose of providing good governance after our victory at the elections.