Ogun LG poll: Deliver fair ruling or recuse yourself – PDP tells judge

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State has urged Justice Sunday Adeniyi of the State High Court, Abeokuta, to deliver a just and fair ruling in a suit seeking to disqualify the party’s candidates from Saturday’s council poll.

DAILY POST reports that the party’s factional chairman, Sikirulai Ogundele, and 13 local government chairmen of the party had filed an action at the Ogun State High Court, challenging the presentation of certain persons whose names, according to them, are not in the register authenticated by the national leadership of the party.

In the suit numbered AB/484/2024, which was filed by Kazeem Gbadamosi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the plaintiffs are asking the court to determine if persons whose names are not on the list of register of members approved by the National Working Committee (NWC) for Ward Congress could present candidates or be presented as candidates of PDP in the forthcoming local government election.

Addressing newsmen on Wednesday, the chairman of the party backed by the national leadership, Abayomi Tella, alleged that the suit was a deliberate move by the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to silent and prevent PDP from participating in the Saturday’s election.

He accused the government of instigating the suit to disqualify its candidates from the election.

Tella, while maintaining that the judge handling the disqualification suit was a member of the ruling party, urged him to deliver a fair ruling in the matter slated for Thursday or rescue himself.

Tella said, “It has become very necessary that we react and inform the public on the many deliberate and desperate attempts by the State Government and the ruling party to silent and prevent opposition parties particularly our party, PDP to participate in the Saturday, November 16 Local Government elections in Ogun State.

“Before the present unwarranted suit against our party instituted by their agents within our party, there were many previous attempts ranging from the disruption of our party congress which we had very successfully; presentation of parallel candidates list to the OGSIEC which also failed and now a case against the party saying the party’s candidates are not members of the party.

“In as much as we cannot pre-empt the court; it is important that we inform the public on the various tactis and actions going on at the background particularly when the ruling party has seen the acceptability of our candidates across the 20 Local governments of the state and of course realized that the winning chances of our party in gaining more momentum on daily basis as we approach the election day.

“We want to state emphatically that we believe strongly in the rule of law and have due respect for our judiciary; therefore, we are expecting true justice even though, we are not unaware that the judge assigned with the case used to be a card-carrying member of the ruling party – APC, a former Caretaker Chairman of Ikenne Local Government, the local government of Mr Governor under the APC government, the Director General of Mr Governor’s campaign for the Senate in 2015, and recently appointed as judge of Ogun State by Governor Dapo Abiodun during his first term in office.

“We only need to enumerate the political profile of the judge not because we are doubting his integrity, but we are using this as an advice that if he cannot recuse himself from this case, he should deliver true justice which will be in line with the rule of law.”

The chairman equally appealed to the State Electoral Commission to be free, fair and ensure even and prompt distribution of materials to all polling units across the 20 LGAs.