Amid renewed crisis, the Ogun State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Wednesday, produced two factional governorship candidates for the 2023 general elections.
A former House of Representatives member, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, was elected in the gubernatorial primary election conducted by one faction while a former spokesman to the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign, Chief Segun Showunmi, emerged in a similar exercise by another faction.
The parallel primaries inevitably set the stage for another round of legal tussle which is likely to haunt the opposition party in the run-up to the epic governorship contest in the state.
It was the primary election that produced Showunmi as governorship candidate that first held earlier in the day at the NUJ Secretariat, Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta.
Chairman of the electoral committee, Abayomi Daniel, announced Showunmi as the winner, saying he polled 554 votes to defeat his closest rival, Otunba Jimi Lawal, who scored 30 votes, while Adebutu polled 15 votes.
According to him, a total number of 778 delegates were accredited, of which 702 votes were cast while three votes were voided.
“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 Showunmi as the winner of the election having polled the highest number of votes and he is hereby returned and elected,” Daniel said.
In his acceptance speech shortly after the exercise, Showunmi 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 PDP in the 2023 polls.
He said, “I humbly accept the nomination as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for 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, Showunmi and Abodunrin John Abimbola all of whom did not record any vote.
Sorkaa disclosed that a total of 715 delegates were accredited for the exercise, of which 714 votes were cast while one vote was voided.
However, the exercise which started at 5 pm and ended about 11:30 pm on Wednesday, was marred by acrimonious disagreement over the delegates’ list to be adopted for election.
Sporadic gunshots rent the air outside the designated hall as loyalists of two leading aspirants, Adebutu and Lawal, engaged one another in a shouting match which momentarily disrupted the exercise.
In the ensuing agitation over the use of delegates list from the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja, our correspondent observed that some loyalists of Lawal raised an objection, claiming the list was fake.
One of the aides of Lawal, Austin Oniyokor, who brought some documents claiming to have been 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 a shouting match between rival supporters who also engaged in pushing and shoving.
The drama lasted for over 30 minutes, with INEC officials temporarily relocating from the hall while security operatives battled to restore order.
