Osun PDP Primary election Tossle : Adeleke stretches hand of brotherhood to Ogunbiyi, others

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the forthcoming governorship election in Osun state, Senator Ademola Adeleke has stretched hand of brotherhood to those aggrieved by his emergence as the flagbearer of the party for the September 22 poll, urging them to eschew personal interests for collective goal of rescuing the state.

Adeleke polled 1569 votes to beat his closest rival, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi to the PDP governorship ticket in a primary that held at GMT, Osogbo, the capital of Osun state, on Saturday.

Crisis trailed the outcome of the primary as Ogunbiyi rejected the result and another contestant, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade renounced his membership of the PDP.

On Thursday, seven aspirants held a joint press conference, where they asked the national leadership of the party to drop Adeleke as PDP governorship candidate and replace him with Ogunbiyi, who they believed won the primary.

Apparently disturbed at the barrage of opposition formed against him within the party, Adeleke raised fear of a conspiracy to distract him and PDP from pursuing the goal Osun state from oppression and repression.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the Director of Media & Publicity for Senator Ademola Adeleke Campaign Organisation, Mr Olawale Rasheed, noted the destructive dimension which grievances is being expressed by aspirants, observing that disposition of aggrieved aspirants negates the collective agreement they entered into prior to the primary.

Adeleke who rallied aspirants with grievances to accept the decision of the leadership of the party and unite to work for his victory on September 22, reminded them that “The MOU was explicit enough on the need for unity and common front after the primaries. Like all other aspirants, Senator Adeleke signed the MOU and his challenger also did the same.”

Dismissing allegation of vote manipulation made against him by his challenger, Adeleke wondered how PDP primary election which was televised live would have been influenced, hence, expressed concern of a smear campaign against him and the party.

“A process that was televised live could not have been manipulated,” he said, explaining that “The counting and vote recounting were all done openly in the presence of agents of all contesting aspirants and televised live.”

“Nothing can justify the baseless accusation of doctored results or manipulated process by Governor Seriake Dickson and his team. The party appeal panel has so decided in their wisdom in line with what most Nigerians saw and watched on television last Saturday that the election process was free and fair.”

On the controversy of his qualification based on academic requirement, Adeleke said he met the educational requirement stipulated by the law and challenged those who are not convinced to visit the secondary school he attended for verification.

“On the second issue of school certificate, Section 177[c] of the Nigerian constitution and section 317 for interpretation on educational requirements for the office of the Governor are very clear and unambiguous, Senator Adeleke is eminently eligible and qualified to seek the office of a governor,” the Ede-born politician said.

“The school; Ede Musilm High School (Formerly Ede Muslim Grammar school) he attended is still existing in Ede his hometown. We challenge those asking questions to go to the school and find out if he attended and finished at the school or not between 1976 and 1981.”

Adeleke who feared external influence with the vehement opposition against him in the party, however, said he would not be distracted in his pursuit to rescue Osun state and address the challenges facing the people.

“We want to use this opportunity to once again appeal to all those who are aggrieved by the outcome of the primary election to put the interest of the good people of Osun and the party above all personal interests.

“The ultimate goal is to rescue our state from oppression and repression,” he emphasised.