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From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State has told the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, to face their failure and stop blaming the APC over the non-listing of Adebutu by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 governorship contest.
In a statement on Sunday by the Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the APC Campaign Council, Kayode Odunaro, the party described the Ogun PDP as factional and crisis-ridden and accused it of engaging in a childish blame game.
The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Kayode Adebayo, and its candidate had alleged that pressure from the APC on INEC was responsible for the non-listing of Adebutu in the final list of candidates for the election.
Odunaro, in the statement, however dismissed the allegation, saying the APC and its candidates are contestants like other parties under INEC as umpire, and that the PDP’s failure to follow simple administrative procedures and adhere to the Electoral Law should not be attributed to the APC.
“How can anyone now attribute the failure of PDP to follow through on simple administrative procedures and adherence to rules of the game as pressure from APC on INEC leading to the non-listing of their candidate as a contestant? Besides, other candidates from other states suffered the same fate as factional PDP in Ogun State for similar non-adherence to the law,” Odunaro stated.
He said the “nationally comatose PDP” should stop blaming the APC and its flag bearer, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), for its gambling tendencies in following laid-down rules.
The APC Campaign Council said the party and its governorship candidate are ready to contest against all eligible candidates certified by INEC, stressing that it would be a waste of time to focus on a candidate the umpire refused to list as a participant.
“Our stand on this is that APC and its candidate for the governorship race are campaigning to win based on proven and verifiable performance, capacity, equity and justice with its 9-point Itesiwaju manifesto. We do not sympathise with any party or candidate that runs foul of the rules of the game,” Odunaro said.
He likened the PDP’s situation to a football team fielding an ineligible player and scoring an own goal to lose the match.
The APC restated its readiness to test the popularity of Senator Adeola at the February 2027 poll, stressing that Ogun State cannot be pigeonholed to have what amounts to an “Iperu to Iperu governor” represented by the PDP candidate in 2027.
