A South-West leader of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Otunba Segun Adewale, who is also the former chairman of Lagos State chapter of the party, has charged the State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to checkmate any attempt by the party chairman in Lagos, Dr Dominic Adegbola, to have names of the already screened candidates for the coming local government election removed and replaced with his chosen candidates.
Adewale made this call on Monday in a release made available to newsmen, calling on LASIEC chairperson, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, not to be a party to illegality otherwise the agency might be dragged into full-blown litigation.
The party chieftain, while alleging Dominic of making attempt to alter the list of PDP candidates already submitted with the electoral commission, said conditions for changing the list were clearly stated in the laws guiding the whole process.
According to Adewale popularly called Aeroland, the law permits substitution of names of already screened candidates submitted by the party to LASIEC, only when such candidates agreed through official writing for their names to be changed or withdrawn, saying that this is not the case.
“The only way Mr Dominic can have the names of PDP candidates changed at the LASIEC is to fraudulently forge their signatures, which will expose the electoral body to litigation and court cases,” the PDP chieftain said.
“I hereby call on Hon. Justice Phillips, chairman of the agency to checkmate this illegality otherwise, the agency may be dragged into full-blown litigation,” he threatened.
Meanwhile, Otunba Adewale disclosed that he would be at the LASIEC office in Yaba this morning to meet the commission’s boss in order to table his group’s grievances.
Dominic, in his reaction, told the Tribune Online on the telephone that he did not go to the LASIEC office to change the candidates’ list but went there to submit names of those who won the party primaries in the Alimoso area of the state to the commission’s boss, saying it was left for the electoral body to act on those names.
“I do not have the power to change or alter any list, am not LASIEC, so I don’t have such power to do so,” the PDP boss said.
The chairman said the list that was submitted to LASIEC was one compiled by the former leader of the party, noting that it was a list some people made out consensus arrangement, which had long been discountenanced as the party eventually agreed to hold primary to pick its candidates for the elections.
According to him, the primaries eventually held, members came out in large numbers to vote and pick their candidates for the elections and was witnessed by LASIEC and security officials, who all appended their signatures.
“I met with the LASIEC boss and told her all these as the chairman of the party, and let her realise that primary was held, and, thereafter, submitted the list of candidates, that had signatures of LASIEC officials and also security officials to her, that’s what I did,” Dominic said.
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