By Chuks Okocha
Contrary to reports that the incumbent deputy governor of Ondo State, Agboola Ajayi had defected to the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) to contest the October 13 governorship election, the list of all the 17 governorship candidates and their deputies released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not include the name of Ajayi as the candidate for the ZLP.
The deputy governor who defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in June this year was defeated by Eyitayo Jegede to the second position.
According to the list released by INEC yesterday, the name of the candidate of the ZLP is Benjamin Jairus Olarotimi and the deputy governorship candidate is Esho Emmanuel Olusegun.
Media report had said that Ajayi Agboola met the former governor of the state, Olusegun Mimiko who is the national leader of ZLP to field the deputy governor to fly the ticket of the party, having lost the chance of becoming the PDP candidate
Other 16 governorship candidates according to the list released by INEC are as follows.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate is Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akerodolu and the deputy governorship is Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa
For Accord Party, the candidate is Rotimi Adeyeye Akindejoye and the running mate Akinyemi Bibiresanmi. For Action Alliance, Joshua Oluwafemi Adewole and the deputy governorship candidate, Ogunleye Agboola Williams. For African Action Congress the governorship is Adeyeye Adekunle Peter and the deputy governorship candidate is Samuel Tope Omotosho.
The governorship candidate for ADC is Adelegan Adedapo Oluwaseyi and his running mate is Akinfotire Temitope Oluseyi, while the candidate of the ADP is Martin Kunle Olateru-Olagbegi and his deputy is Balogun Olugbenga Victor.
For APGA, the gubernatorial candidate is Olowoloba Dele and the deputy governorship is Babalola Aderemi., while the candidate for the APM is Aminu Akeem Olarenwaju and the deputy governorship candidate is Omoyeni Taiwo Seyi and the APP governorship candidate is Adesanya Olaoluwa and the running mate is Akinrinlola Adewale -Stephen
For the Labour Party, the gubernatorial candidate is Okunade Taiwo and the deputy candidate Ibitoye Adebowale and the candidate for the NNP is Ojajuni Joseph Eniola and the deputy Aroge Bayode Sunday
For the NRM, the gubernatorial candidate is Fumilayo Jenyo Atanuoko and the deputy gubernatorial is Mafimisebi Adetutu.
Eyitayo Jegede Olayinka was published as the PDP candidate and Olumide Ogunje his Deputy for the PRP, the gubernatorial candidate is Babatunde Francis Alli and the running mate is Oladele Paul Oluwasesan.
For the SDP, the governorship is Fasua Peter Oyeleye and the running is Ajayi Rachel Olufumilayo and the candidate of the YPP is Ojon Dotum and the deputy governorship candidate is Hajarat Dupe Usman.
INEC had said Tuesday that it would yesterday release the details of the 17 political parties that conduct their governorship primary elections.
According to Festus Okoye INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, the List and Personal Particulars of the candidates as submitted by the 17 political parties would be uploaded on the commission’s website and published in Ondo State Office in Akure, Ondo State yesterday.
Okoye explained that this is in compliance with section 31(3) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), adding that the list will also be published on the Commission’s social media platforms on the same day.
He explained that by section 31 (5) and (6) of the Electoral Act, a person who has reasonable grounds to believe that any information given in the affidavit or any of the documents submitted by any of the candidates is false, may file a suit in Court seeking a declaration that such information is false.
“If the Court determines that the information is false, the Court shall issue an Order disqualifying the candidate from contesting the election”, he explained.
The INEC National Commissioner said that the INEC’s meeting yesterday deliberated on a number of issues which include the Nasarawa Central State Constituency Election scheduled for 8 August 2020, preparations for the Edo Governorship Election holding on 19 September 2020 and the conduct of party primaries for the Ondo State Governorship Election scheduled to hold on 10 October 2020.
He explained that on 6 February 2020, the Commission published the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Ondo Governorship Election and gave political parties interested in sponsoring and nominating candidates between 2 and 25 July 2020 to conduct party primaries and till 6pm of 28 July 2020 for the submission of the List and Particulars of nominated candidates.
According to the INEC Commissioner “17 out of the 18 registered Political Parties gave the Commission the requisite statutory notice of their intention to conduct primaries and they conducted primaries for the purposes of nominating candidates for the Governorship Election.
“The Commission opened its dedicated nomination portal on 21 July 2020 and some of the political parties that conducted their primaries before the 25 July deadline seized the opportunity and uploaded the list and particulars of their nominated candidates ahead of the cut off time of 6pm on 28 July 2020.”
In view of this, “As at 4.08pm today, 28 July 2020, all the 17 Political Parties had submitted the List and Particulars of their nominated candidates using the INEC dedicated portal.”
The commission urged members of the public to take an active part in the vetting of the List and Particulars of nominated candidates to enhance transparency in the party nomination processes.
