- Allegation is false, says electoral commission
- Mass defection looms over choice of PDP running mate
The tussle over the rightful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the November 20
governorship election in Ondo State assumed a new dimension at the
weekend, when the candidate of the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led faction
of the party, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, alleged that an official of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) demanded a bribe of $1
million from him.
Ibrahim, who recently got a court order
declaring him the PDP candidate, said that an INEC official had asked
him for $1 million in order to list his name as a candidate ahead of the
poll.
But, in its response, the Chief
Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi,
described the allegation as uncharitable and ungodly.
The INEC chairman’s spokesman explained
that the two members of staff of INEC who witnessed the encounter
between Ibrahim and the said INEC official confirmed that the politician
had tried to impress it upon her to collect the court judgment.
Ibrahim and Hon. Eyitayo Jegede had
emerged as separate candidates of the two factions of the PDP in Ondo
State. But a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, presided over by Justice Okon Abang, ordered INEC to recognise Ibrahim as the candidate of the PDP.
Addressing a press conference yesterday
in Abuja, Ibrahim alleged that the acting Legal Adviser of INEC, Mrs.
O.O. Babalola, demanded the $1 million bribe from him to effect the
judgment of the court which certified him as the candidate of the PDP.
Ibrahim, who said he had reported the
incident to the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, also made
available a petition he had written to President Muhammadu Buhari on the
allegation.
Ibrahim’s petition dated October 21,
2016 and addressed to the president stated in part: “This petition is
written to inform Your Excellency of the demand by one Mrs. O.O.
Babalola of INEC for the payment of one million US dollars before she
would obey a court judgment marked exhibit A attached.”
Ibrahim insisted that he remains the
authentic candidate of the party in the upcoming election, adding that
INEC was not an Appeal Court and therefore could not determine who the
PDP candidate in the election should be.
He expressed concern that INEC, which
had said it would obey the court judgment immediately it was served,
suddenly started to change its earlier stance.
“After the service, the music changed.
INEC should not allow one governor to destroy its reputation. We are not
saying that INEC will not obey the court judgment. One of the officials
demanded for one million dollar bribe from me to process the court
judgment,” he alleged.
Apart from the bribery allegation, the
PDP chieftain also curiously demanded the removal of the Resident
Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo State, accusing him of being a
card-carrying member of the PDP.
Jimoh said he could not be trusted to conduct a free and fair election in the state.
However, INEC has reacted to Ibrahim’s allegation, describing it as “utterly false and ungodly”.
Oyekanmi, who spoke to journalists yesterday, said that it was not true that Mrs. Babalola demanded $1 million from Ibrahim.
“It is not true that Mrs. Babalola
demanded $1 million from Jimoh Ibrahim. Two other officials of INEC
witnessed the encounter between Mrs. Babalola and Jimoh Ibrahim.
“Jimoh Ibrahim brought a copy of his
judgment and wanted to impose it on INEC to accept it. But we told him
that we already have it.
“It is uncharitable and ungodly for a businessman of his stature to make this kind of allegation,” he said.
As if PDP’s problems in the state were
not enough, THISDAY also learnt yesterday that mass defections may soon
hit the party in Ese-Odo Local Government Area, which is the
Ijaw-speaking area of the state, following the rejection by political
leaders from the area of the choice of the deputy governorship
candidate of the PDP.
The PDP had submitted the name of the former Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. John Mafo, as Jegede’s running mate.
However, the threat of mass defection
from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) was contained in a
statement signed by a PDP leader from Ese-Odo, Hon. Sunday Tundigha, on
behalf of aggrieved Ese-Odo PDP Leaders’ Forum.
The statement faulted the emergence of Mafo, saying it “defied all known logic and political justice”.
Ese-Odo Local Government Area is a PDP
stronghold and accounted for over 60 per cent of votes the party
garnered in the 2015 general election.
“Our local government is the only
Ijaw-speaking local government area and delivered thousands of votes for
the PDP in the last presidential and National Assembly elections with
over 90 per cent of the votes cast in the local government area.
“We were, however, surprised that the
leadership of the party decided to turn logic on its head by giving the
deputy governorship slot to a local government without any voting value
for the PDP.
“This is more so that Alliance for
Democracy’s Olusola Oke is from the same local government area. This
defies logic and every known political justice.
“We are therefore giving Governor Olusegun Mimiko and the leadership of the PDP 48 hours from now,
to withdraw Mafo and replace him with an indigene of Ese-Odo. Anything
short of this will result in mass defection from the party.
“It is sad that an individual from
Ese-Odo could sell out this golden opportunity for our people just
because of his future political ambitions. We will resist this selfish
and short-sighted political calculation,” he said.
According to Tundigha, the aggrieved
leaders of the PDP had resolved to work for the success of the APC
candidate, Chief Rotimi Akeredolu.
“Between now and the expiration of the
ultimatum, we have put all our supporters on notice to mobilise for
Chief Rotimi Akeredolu of the APC. This is because his running mate,
Hon. Agboola Ajayi, the ambassadorial nominee, Mr. Sola Iji, as well as
the Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Agriculture,
Mr. Donald Ojogo, are distinguished sons of our local government,” he
added.
One of the deputy governorship hopefuls
from Ese-Odo, prior to Mafo’s emergence, Chief Pere Ganfo, had also
warned that the PDP might face dire electoral consequences over the
decision it took against the Ijaw-speaking area of the state.
“Honestly, since the announcement of
Mafo, I have received several complaints from our people who feel short
changed, used and dumped. They are unhappy because the party did not
deem it needful to consider our current electoral value to the PDP.
“It means we are not needed in the
party. But as a party man, I have been trying to assuage their
feelings, trying to calm them but I doubt if I will continue to have
such capacity to do that, and you know what that means,” Ganfo said.
Meanwhile, Ojogo and Senator Heineken
Lokpobiri have urged all Ijaws in the state to vote massively for the
APC in the coming election.
“The people of Ondo State are well
informed and conscious of the fact that the present administration in
the state under Dr. Olusegun Mimiko had impoverished the state long
before now.
“The deceit and self-serving style of
the governor and his cohorts must be brought to an end and only a
massive turnout for Akeredolu can rescue the state from further
impoverishment, hunger and directionless leadership.
“I believe all Ijaws in the state will key into this agenda that is aimed at connecting the state to the centre,” he said.
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