The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, has told an aspirant of the party, Segun Showunmi, that he is misleading the media and the masses by parading himself as the party’s factional candidate.
Adebutu said there is nothing like a factional candidate in an election, saying there can only be factional aspirants.
According to him, once the National Working Committee (NWC) of a party forwards the name of its elected candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the name is accepted and published by the electoral umpire, no one else has the right to parade himself as the candidate.
Adebutu said he was duly elected in a primary election monitored by INEC and the party’s NWC, stating that his name has been published on the INEC portal as the 2023 gubernatorial candidate of the PDP in Ogun.
However, the former lawmaker said he was dumbfounded when Showunmi started parading himself as the factional candidate, saying he did not participate in the primary election.
Speaking at the party’s inaugural meeting of the Ogun Central Campaign Council held at the OOPL, Abeokuta, Adebutu maintained that there is no basis for anybody to parade himself as a factional candidate after INEC has released the names of qualified and duly elected candidates.
“Showunmi who knows he did not partake in the primary election is now making noise in the media, being addressed as the factional candidate. I have never heard anything like factional candidate in my life. Those two things are exclusive; you can be a factional aspirant, you cannot be a factional candidate. There can be only one candidate. You cannot be a factional candidate.
”The party said this is my candidate. The INEC published the same person as the candidate of the party, yet some people are still addressing Showunmi as the factional candidate. Are they doing that in the interest of the public? This is a big question,” Adebutu said.
Addressing the PDP members, Adebutu said there must be inclusiveness to promote inter-party relations.
The purpose, he said, is to give new defectees a sense of belonging by carrying everybody along during the campaign.
As part of preparations towards the general elections, the PDP deputy governorship candidate in Ogun, Adekunle Akinlade said the party is ready for a robust and an issue-based campaign.
According to Akinlade, the PDP had in the last couple of works engaged in thorough discussions about strategies with the party’s technical teams, expressing confidence that the PDP would win the 2023 elections.
In his words, the Coordinator of Inter-Party Affairs for PDP Campaign in Ogun Central, Oladele Olaleye, stated that the party has created a means to receive support from members of other political parties as well as non-politicians who love the PDP or its candidates.
As the Coordinator in Ogun Central, Olaleye said the gathering was to coalesce people from the six local governments in Ogun Central – Abeokuta South, Abeokuta North, Ewekoro, Ifo, Odeda, and Obafemi Owode.
He added that the Local Government and Ward Coordinators are brought together so they could start mobilizing support for the PDP at the grassroots.
He charged Ogun people to go and collect their Permanent Voter Cards to be eligible to vote in the 2023 general elections.