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The Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate a governorship aspirant of the party, Jimi Lawal, for allegedly forging the delegates’ list.
The PDP said the list was presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission for the governorship primary election held in the state.
Lawal and his supporters had rejected a delegates’ list purportedly brought from national secretariat of the party during the May 25 governorship primary of the party which produced Ladi Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the party.
Lawal, who presented another delegates’ list as the authentic list alleged that the names of the persons on the list were not democratically elected at the ward, local government and state congresses.
The party however claimed it discovered that Lawal had forged the delegates’ list in collusion with top officials of INEC to “deceive, manipulate and misrepresent facts.”
Already, three members of the party, Taiwo Olabode Idris, Kehinde Akala and Alhaji Ayinde Monsuri have dragged the party, Adebutu and INEC to a Federal High court sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital.
They challenged the authenticity of the delegates’ lists used for the conduct of the primaries.
Delivering her judgment, Justice O.O Oguntoyinbo nullified all the primary elections conducted by the party in the state.
Justice Oguntoyinbo also ordered the party to conduct fresh primaries within the next 14 days.
But, the party in separate petitions by its lawyer, Oladimeji Balogun, dated Thursday, October 27, and addressed to the chairmen of the EFCC and ICPC, demanded the investigation of Lawal and some officials of INEC in the state for allegedly suppressing the authentic delegates’ list of the party.
The party in another petition, also dated Thursday October 27 and addressed to the national chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, accused the Head of Department and Party Monitoring of the state INEC and Director of Election and Party Monitoring department at INEC headquarters in Abuja of “deliberate and criminal suppression of the PDP authentic delegates’ list with a view to fraudulently substituting the original documents with an unlawful delegate result purportedly submitted by Lawal.”
The party, therefore called for the investigation of the INEC officials involved in the alleged fraud.
The petition, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent read in part, “The suppression of those documents was deliberately effected to give undue advantage to a particular aspirant who, relying on the purported fraudulent delegates’ list went ahead to institute legal proceedings against the party.”
Reacting , the Residence Electoral Commissioner of INEC in the state, Mr. Niyi Ijalaye said, he was unaware of the petition.
Ijalaye said, “One, I have not sighted the petition, number two, the petition was not addressed to me. If there is a forgery, that is a matter for the police, but personally, I’m unaware of that document to any forgery.
“But, if there is actually a forgery or an alleged forgery, it must be a matter to be investigated by the security agencies.
“I don’t know about it. Forgery is a crime against the state, I think it is a matter that should be rightly handled by the security agencies.”
When contacted, a media aide to Lawal, Austin Oniyorko, described the action as an exercise in futility.
He faulted the claim accusing his boss of forging the party’s logo and others, saying Lawal did not commit any economic crime that would warrant an EFCC invitation.
He said, “When did the issue of delegate list become an economic issue? It is a sign of failure, it is a sign of desperation and it shows that these people are losing it.
“They woke up now and invited EFCC and ICPC, is it the ICPC, is it the EFCC that will upturn the court’s judgements.”