Cancel Lagos PDP governorship primaries - Obanikoro, says exercise is a sham

Jimi Agbaje, after he was declared winner yesterday at the PDP governorship primaries in Lagos

A governorship aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has called for the cancellation of the Lagos State governorship primaries calling it a sham.

At the governorship primaries which was held at Yard 158, Oregun Road, Lagos, Jimi Agbaje polled 432 votes to defeat Obanikoro who scored 343 votes, while Adedeji Doherty and Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi polled 21 votes respectively.

Addressing newsmen at his GRA office shortly after the primaries, Obanikoro said “There is no election results and the elections should be cancelled. The process is completely tainted and going forward with that, will lead to an outcome that will not be beneficial to the party.”

Asked to comment on the outcome of the exercise that threw up Mr Jimi Agbaje, he said “my immediate reaction is t’hat the election was a sham. I still cannot comprehend how accredited delegates of 806, will turn out to be 868. To be honest with you, you can tell that it was a predetermined exercise. People like us are not in this democracy for the sake of it, we are in it to ensure that the right things are done so that the country can be on the right path. We intend to fight this, there is an opportunity for an appeal and we will appeal and we hope the party will do the right thing.”

Accusing Chief Bode George of being responsible for the alleged confusion within the Lagos PDP, he said “Bode George has been the problem as far as this party is concerned and there is no doubt in my mind that he supervised this electoral malpractice. How do you expect the panel chairman arriving Lagos at 10 am on Monday and not starting the election until 5pm in the evening. You can judge by some of the pronouncements made by Bode George, Ogunlewe and a host of others. One of the reasons why this party has failed is because it is being led by the likes of Bode George and Ogunlewe.”

The former Minister of State for Defence, who vowed not to rest until justice is served said “We submitted ourselves to a process that we felt will be free and fair but unfortunately, they decided to play religious politics, manipulation of electoral process particularly on Election Day. This to me is unacceptable, we will contest it in every sense of it and until the needed necessary corrections are made, we will not rest.”