The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Ondo State, on Sunday, lamented over the exclusion of the party and its candidate, Mr Dapo Adelegan, from a debate organised for candidates of political parties participating in the next Saturday governorship election.
The ADC who stated this through the Deputy Director-General of his Adelegan Campaign Organisation, Pastor Ajibola Ogunmakinwa, said thousands of the party’s supporters have expressed their disappointment towards the action of the organisers.
Ajibola maintained that the party view the action of the organisers as a deliberate attempt to deny the people of Ondo State the opportunity to make a choice saying elections were about making choices.
He said: “It could also be out of fear of our candidate and the need to protect some preferred candidates from facing the real challenge that can be offered by our candidate.
“Prince Dapo Adelegan is a tested and trusted technocrat that is well equipped with what it takes to move a state like Ondo forward after years of stagnation.
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“It should be stated that the rigging of an election is not just limited to the cooking up of figures and the stealing of ballot boxes.
“The lack of transparency in the process and absence of democratisation of the space also constitute an integral part of thwarting a free and fair election.
“Shutting out a credible candidate on the grounds of space constraints and logistics when the earlier round of debates had accommodated an even larger number of participants is nothing but an afterthought. This is a call for a candidate to offer good governance to the people of Ondo State.”
Adelegan was scheduled to attend the second leg but received a letter from the organisers that he could no longer be accommodated due to constraining of space and logistics.[