James Sowole in Akure.
The 21 lawmakers elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the Ondo State House of Assembly at the weekend rejected the substitution of Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN, with Dr Jimoh Ibrahim as the candidate of the party in the forthcoming governorship election.
The lawmakers under the aegis of PDP Caucus in the House were led by the Speaker, Hon Jumoke Akindele, expressed their rejection at a news conference in Akure, the state capital.
Speaking on behalf of the lawmakers at the State House of Assembly, the speaker stated that as statutory delegates of the party involved in the election and selection of the party’s candidate, Jegede remained the candidate of the party.
She said the lawmakers never participated in the process that produced Ibrahim as the PDP candidate.
Akindele, who specifically stated that Ibrahim was not a member of the party in the state, said he never participated in the primary election of the party in the state.
She said Ibrahim had dumped the party for another before the conduct of the primary towards the governorship election.
She said: “On the 27th day of August, 2016, the delegates of the PDP in a primary election properly conducted in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic on Nigeria and the Electoral Act as amended gave their mandate to Mr. Eyitayo Jegede but recent events showed that injustice is walking barefoot on our land.
“We reject injustice that can bring anarchy to the land of Ondo State. We have come collectively to state that this travesty of justice must not stand as it borders on the democratic existence of our dear state and the peaceful co-existence of its people.
“The entire people of the state are still in shock over the ungodly court order directing INEC to substitute the PDP candidate, Eyitayo Jegede with an individual unknown to the party, one Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim.
“As a matter of fact, Ibrahim has no moral or political strength to be the PDP governorship candidate of Ondo state having defected from the party before now and the process that led to his emergence is antithetical to the PDP constitution and the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria”, she said.
