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From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State, Bolaji Adeniji, has urged the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate in the state, Oladipupo Adebutu, to stop attributing his omission from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s final list of candidates for the February 6, 2027 governorship election to the pressure allegedly mounted on the electoral body by the ruling party and its governorship candidate, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola otherwise known as Yayi.
Adeniji said instead of Adebutu and his supporters accepting and respecting the decision of INEC, which according to him acted within the ambit of the extant electoral laws, they have continued to heap blame on the APC and Adeola for their woes.
INEC had on Saturday night released the final list of names of the governorship candidates for the February 2027 gubernatorial poll, with Adebutu’s name and his party conspicuously missing.
Adebutu, however, faulted INEC for delisting him despite meeting all the requirements laid down by the electoral body.
He also alleged that the APC exerted pressure on INEC to delist his name from the governorship candidates list, vowing to seek legal redress over the omission.
Reacting to the development, Adeniji, while speaking with journalists on Sunday night in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, stressed that Adebutu’s omission is a question of “electoral compliance rather than an opportunity for political accusations against the ruling party”.
He argued that neither Senator Adeola nor the APC should be held responsible for the administrative or procedural shortcomings that may have occurred within PDP’s nomination process.
Adeniji, who is a member of the Ogun Campaign Council Media and Communication Committee, said the PDP should concentrate on establishing facts rather than directing accusations at political opponents.
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“Adebutu and his supporters must understand that Senator Adeola and the APC are not responsible for the internal administrative and nomination decisions of the PDP. If there is a question about the party’s membership register or compliance with the electoral act, the party must address it directly with the umpire”.
“You cannot transfer responsibility for your own failure to your political opponents simply because the consequences have become dire. Adebutu must take responsibility for the choices made within his own camp,” he said.
He stressed that the relevant issue was whether the PDP satisfied the requirements governing membership registration and participation in party primaries, particularly Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act 2026.
“The provision restricts participation in party primaries, congresses and conventions to members whose names appear on the membership register submitted to INEC within the prescribed period.
“The PDP should establish whether Adebutu’s name appeared on the relevant register submitted by the party’s leadership and whether the nomination process complied with the law.
“The law does not ask whether a candidate belongs to the ruling party or the opposition. It asks whether the relevant requirements have been met. If the PDP believes that Adebutu complied with the law, it should present the documents that support its position.
“But if the issue concerns the membership register and the process through which the candidate emerged, blaming Yayi will not answer those questions,” he added.
Adeniji stated further that every political party must take responsibility for its own decisions, urging Adebutu to direct his attention to the issues that produced this unfortunate situation and use the appropriate route to seek redress if he believes an injustice has occurred.
“Yayi and the APC should not be made the scapegoats for a controversy whose resolution depends on the facts, the applicable law and the actions of the institutions responsible for the electoral process,” Adeniji submitted.
