8th December, 2014
Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja & Abiodun Onafuye
The tussle between the national leadership of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Ogun State chapter of the party over the Ogun State governorship ticket continued on Monday as the National Working Committee of the party stopped the state governorship primary.
In a short statement signed by Olisah Metuh, its National Publicity Secretary, PDP, said it cancelled the conduct of the governorship primary election in Ogun State because it is “unauthorised”.
The party said a new date for the primary will be announced later. It added that any primary held in Ogun State on Monday will be declared null and void.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the NWC hereby states that it did not authorise any governorship primary in Ogun State.
“Consequently, any such exercise held in Ogun State is hereby declared null and void and of no effect.
“A new date will be communicated for the primaries,” Metuh said in the statement.
In his response to P.M.NEWS enquiries over the development on monday afternoon, the state chairman of the party, Engr. Bayo Dayo, said they are going ahead with the election since nobody had communicated with them from Abuja.
At the time of filing this report, PDP supporters and some loyalists of the aspirants were seen around the state secretariat of the party at Oke Mosan. They were not allowed into the premises. Only leaders of the party were seen holding meeting.
The National leadership of PDP has been at loggerheads with the Chief Bayo Dayo-led party in Ogun state over alleged plan to impose Dimeji Bankole, former Speaker of the House of Representatives as the 2015 governorship candidate of the state.
Members of Ogun State PDP had argued against the candidature of Bankole who they said have no local appeal while the national leadership of the party believe the former Speaker has the clout to defeat Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the incumbent governor.
Ahead of today’s PDP primaries holding across the country, the Ogun State chapter of PDP said yesterday that it was not aware of the gubernatorial aspiration of the former Speaker.
Chief Dayo told journalists that Bankole was not one of its 11 aspirants contesting in the primary election as he was yet to purchase the PDP Expression of Interest form which would have formally indicated that he is an aspirant in the governorship primary election.
According to him, Bankole had only been looking for a “short cut” to becoming the PDP governorship candidate instead of going through due process.
“But we’ll continue to say it that he (Bankole) did not obtain Expression of Interest form from Ogun State. Until that is obtained, I wouldn’t know him as one of our aspirants,” Dayo said.
“Somebody cannot just say because he has been to Harvard, Cambridge or Oxford, he’s coming to lead us overnight. It’s not going to happen. So, if you are contesting you must come to the state secretariat and obtain an Expression of Interest form.
“Those forms that are given to us by the various aspirants are the forms we are using for all these primaries, congresses we are doing. We do not have special funds for all these things. It is the money contributed by all these aspirants that we are using. The arrangement about Dimeji Bankole, I do not know anything about it.”
He added that Bankole distanced himself from the party since he failed to get re-elected into the House of Reps in 2011.
Winners of PDP Senatorial Election
Benue South — David Mark
Plateau Central — Joshua Dariye
Plateau North — Jonah Jang
Anambra Central — Uche Ekwunife
Anambra North — Stella Oduah
Anambra South — Andy Uba
Cross River Central — John Owan Enoh
Abia Central — Theodore Orji
Abia North — Mao Ohuabunwa
Abia South — Enyinnaya Abaribe
Bayelsa Central — Emmanuel Paulker
Bayelsa East — Ben Murray-Bruce
Bayelsa west — Fister Ogola/Heineken Lokpobiri
Enugu West — Ike Ekweremadu
Edo Central — Clifford Ordia
Edo North — Paschal Ugbome
Edo South — Matthew Urhoghide
Ondo North — Bode Olajumoke/Olu Agunloye
Ondo Central — Ayo Akinyelure/Olusola Agbesua
Ondo South — Yele Omogunla
Ikot Ekpene — Godswill Akpabio
Uyo — Bassey Albert
Eket — Nelson Effiong
FCT, Abuja — Philip Tanimu Aduda
Delta North — Postponed
Delta South — James Manager
Delta Central — Ighoyota Amori
Ogun East — Buruji Kashamu
Ogun West — Waliu Taiwo
Ogun Central — Bisola Sodipo-Clark
Niger East — Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu
Niger North — Halidu Agwara
Kwara North — Yinusa Yahaya
Kwara Central — Yinka Aluko
Kwara South — Lola Ashiru
Kogi West — Smart Adeyemi