Echoes from APC, PDP primaries in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo

One of the most interesting governorship contests expected in the 2023 general elections will be between the incumbent governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the flag bearer of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Abdul Azeez Adediran, also known as Jandor.

Intrigues in Lagos APC primary
GOVERNOR Sanwo-Olu had an easy ride to victory, as his two major opponents, Wale Oluwo, a former Commissioner under erstwhile Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and Abdul-Ahmed Mustapha, an ex-permanent secretary in the state, were reported to have failed the screening and were barred from entering the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium Onikan, venue of the primary.

However, Jandor won the PDP ticket following the withdrawal of four other contestants: Olanrewaju Jim-Kamal, Adedeji Doherty, Ade Dosunmu, and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour from the exercise. But David Kolawole Vaughan, who polled 20 votes at the primary, slugged it out with Jandor, who got 679 votes.
 
Dr Adetokunbo Pearse and Chief Wale Gomez, who won the party’s Lagos Central senatorial, had earlier withdrawn from the governorship race because they are convinced that Jandor is the best Lagos PDP can use to wrest power from APC. 

According to the returning officer, Emmanuel Ogidi, 775 ad-hoc delegates were supposed to participate in the primary. However, 709 of them were accredited.
 
“The total number of accredited voters is 709 and Olajide Adediran got 679 votes, David Kolawole Vaughan had 20, and we had 10 voided votes,” he said while declaring the result.
 
But political observers still believe that it would be an uphill task for PDP to unseat the political structure of the National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in Lagos State, which Governor Sanwo-Olu represents.
 
To forge a united front, which has been absent in Lagos PDP since 1999, former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, organised a conference where he preached peace and harmony, as major factors that will assist the party to win election in Lagos next year.

How Folarin emerged at APC controversial primary
Although the lawmaker representing Oyo Central District, Senator Teslim Folarin has been declared the winner of the Oyo State governorship ticket of the APC in a controversial primary, it is not yet Uhuru for him as other members of the party are kicking.
 
The Secretary of the Primary Committee, who served as the Returning Officer, Dr Abdullahi Abubarkar Kuso, sd Folarin polled 954 votes in a contest that ran late into Friday night at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, formerly known as Liberty Stadium, Oke Ado, Ibadan. 11 votes were declared void.
 
However, two aspirants, Chief Adeniyi Akintola and the 2019 APC candidate in Oyo, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, were not at the primary. Three other aspirants, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, Akeem Alao and Akeem Agbaje were present and participated in the exercise. Former Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu was also at the primary.

Chief Akintola had on Thursday when the exercise was postponed after some irreconcilable issues regarding the delegates list staged a parallel primary where he claimed to have emerged as a candidate of the party. He also submitted a petition to the Primary Appeal Committee, claiming that he had emerged the winner at a primary, which held at Trans Amusement Park, Ibadan, on Thursday, which was the day the national secretariat fixed for the election.
 
Other scores, as announced by Kuso are Akeem Alao, 6 votes; Adebayo Adelabu, 327 votes; Dr Azeez Adeduntan, 2 votes; Akeem Agbaje 15 votes and Adeniyi Akintola nil votes.
 
The election, which started around 8:45 p.m. lasted barely 45 minutes, as all the Senatorial districts were organised to vote simultaneously.
 
Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Security agencies, among other stakeholders, monitored the primary election.

AMID renewed crises, the Ogun State chapter of PDP has produced two factional governorship candidates for the 2023 general elections.

A former House of Representatives member, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu was elected in the primary conducted by a faction, while another faction elected a former spokesman to the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign, Chief Segun Sowunmi, as the party’s flag bearer.

The parallel primaries inevitably set the stage for another round of legal tussle, which is likely to haunt the party in the run-up to the governorship contest in the state.

It was the primary that produced Sowunmi as a candidate that was first held at the NUJ secretariat, Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta.

Chairman of the electoral committee, Abayomi Daniel, who announced Sowunmi as the winner, declared that he polled 554 votes to defeat his closest rival, Otunba Jimi Lawal, who scored 30 votes, while Adebutu polled 15 votes.

According to Daniel, a total number of 778 delegates were accredited; of which 702 cast their votes, and three votes were voided.

He said, “By the power conferred on me by the national leadership of our great party as the chairman electoral committee of the PDP governorship primary election in Ogun State, I hereby declare Hon. Segun Sowunmi as the winner of the election, having polled the highest number of votes and he is hereby returned and elected.”

In his acceptance speech, Sowunmi said his victory was the beginning of a new dawn in the PDP and a sure step towards a defining moment in the state.

He called on other aspirants to work with him towards securing victory for the party in the 2023 polls.

Sowunmi said, “I humbly accept the nomination as a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State. I thank all the delegates; I thank all relevant authorities and the security agencies for their efforts. I am particularly impressed by the orderly manner of the primaries. I wish to extend an olive branch of peace and camaraderie to my brothers’ fellow aspirants.”

But in the other primary election held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the PDP electoral panel headed by Prof Akase Sorkaa declared Adebutu as the governorship candidate.

According to him, Adebutu polled 714 votes to defeat Lawal, Sowunmi and Abodunrin John Abimbola, all of whom did not record any votes.

Sorkaa disclosed that a total of 715 delegates were accredited for the exercise, 714 votes were cast while one vote was voided.

However, the exercise, which started at 5:00 p.m. and ended at about 11:30 p.m., was marred by disagreement over the delegate’s list to be adopted for election.

Sporadic gunshots also rented the air outside the designated hall, as loyalists of two leading gubernatorial aspirants, Adebutu and Lawal, engaged one another in a shouting match, which disrupted the exercise.

In the ensuing disagreement over the use of the delegates list from the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, it was gathered that some loyalists of Lawal raised an objection, claiming the list was fake.

One of Lawal aides, Austin Oniyokor, who brought some documents that claimed were certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), insisted that the primary election must not take place unless the said document is adopted.

This development led to shouting matches between rival supporters, who also engaged in pushing and shoving.
The drama lasted for over 30 minutes, with INEC officials temporarily relocated from the hall while security operatives battled to restore order.

For the APC primary, a group, Civil Society Organisation led by Ayodele Oludiran, had petitioned the national body of the party, seeking the disqualification of the incumbent governor, Dapo Abiodun.

In a swift reaction, the Ogun State chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council  (IPAC), dismissed the petition as spurious, not genuine and a calculated attempt to disparage the person of the governor.