The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State has warned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop sending emissaries to Chief Kessington Adebutu, father of the PDP candidate in the March 18 governorship election in the State, Ladi Adebutu.
The PDP cautioned that the APC should face the case before the election tribunal instead of sending dignitaries to plead with the business mogul to prevail on his son to withdraw his petition.
This was contained in a statement made available to Newspot by the PDP Publicity Secretary in Ogun, Akinloye Bankole, on Monday.
Earlier, the APC spokesman in Ogun, Tunde Oladunjoye, had accused Adebutu of bullying the judiciary.
Oladunjoye told Adebutu that he cannot be a petitioner and judge at the same time, saying election petition is not won on social media.
The APC leader said, “Adebutu’s persistent bullying of the judiciary, peddling of lies against the government and inciting the citizens, is the worst version of what defective petitioners do to give non-existent hope to gullible followers to keep them in check and securely warehoused.”
He described Adebutu’s petition as nothing but foul smoke that will be blown away with the wind.
“They fantasised about votes to be deducted from APC votes! This is laughable. They have been deceived by rookie statisticians who came up with all manner of strange allegations, expecting their one-winged petition to fly. The decent thing to do is for Adebutu to refrain from propaganda,” Oladunjoye stated.
Reacting, the PDP said Adebutu, together with the party approached the elections petition tribunal with petitions, to register displeasure on the level of partisanship, anomalies, manipulations and several irregularities discovered in the just concluded 2023 elections in the State.
The PDP spokesperson said it is a shameful act for Oladunjoye and the Ogun APC team to have called Adebutu out for exercising his fundamental human rights, stressing that the Nigerian constitution reckons with freedom of speech and expression, which Adebutu has done harmlessly.
“For Oladunjoye to have started crying when trials have not commenced, is it not a new antics to cause distractions, particularly when the truth is catching up with them daily?”
Bankole maintained that an election tribunal is never a military zone and anyone with no skeleton in his cupboard should not shiver but accept being served with the petitions and not wait until an order for substituted service is granted.
“If truly the APC won the election beyond reasonable doubt, then, there is no need for the APC to twist narratives, whip sentiments around the judiciary and cry foul when nothing happened.
“The APC should prepare themselves for the trials at the tribunal and stop disturbing the public with lies and also stop sending emissaries to the patriarch of the Adebutu family to plead. Rather, they should allow the judiciary, the only hope of the common man, to perform its constitutional duties. After all, ours is a constitutional democracy,” Bankole noted.
He spoke further that the “APC is known for intimidating and attacking peaceful individuals, so as to restrict people from exposing their illicit acts, hence, their new endeavour of using Oladunjoye as a microphone to orchestrate and cause post-election chaos.”
Bankole alleged that Oladunjoye “is supposed to be under an arrest somewhere and be answering questions bordering on corruption and reckless dereliction of duties during his inglorious days as council chairman; he should not be here claiming to be more Catholic than Pope in the bid to massage his principal’s ego.
“He has been a serial betrayer and a cheat. Even recently, he was exposed by his party members for siphoning campaign funds.
“The iniquity perpetrated by the APC in the just concluded general elections are visible to the public view, there is nowhere to hide, as we have enough video evidence of their brazen brigandage and harassment deployed to subvert the popular wish of innocent citizens.”
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