ACCORDING to the Peoples Democratic Party’s national publicity secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the legitimacy of the sponsorship of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate was revoked according to the 2022 Electoral Act.
Ologunagba emphasized that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s candidacy could be affected by the recent court decision that declared Adgeboyega Oyetola, the APC candidate in the just-concluded Osun State governorship election, ineligible.
During a press conference yesterday in Abuja Ologunagba asserted that Mai Mala Buni, the chair of the APC Caretaker committee and the state governor of Zamfara State, had violated Section 183 of the Electoral Act.
He said, “Mai Mala Bala was assumed to be Chairman of the APC and the laws say that if you are an executive governor you cannot double as Chairman. This has led the court to nullify the candidacy of the Governor of Osun State, Oyetola.
“The same Mai Mala Buni was the caretaker chairman that sponsored the nomination of Tinubu. We are saying that if the process that sponsored the nomination of the presidential candidate of the APC was illegal, then the nomination of Bola Tinubu is illegal, null and void.”
When asked if the PDP will seek legal action to support his allegation, he responded that the party had already given the APC advice on the subject and had reviewed the most recent Oyetola case ruling.
He, however, said, “the PDP will not announce whether we are going to court. When we want to go to court, you will know.”
When asked about the unity of the PDP, given the ongoing differences between the Wike camp and the Ayu camp, he said, “You mistake Atiku to be PDP. Atiku is a product of PDP. I understand that Nigerians are legitimately concerned for the party but reconciliation is not a 100m dash, it is a marathon.”
Oloogunagba stated that Atiku’s efforts to win Wike back to the party had demonstrated to Nigerians that he was a unifier.
He added. “Nigerians have accepted Atiku as a unifier, The multiple actions of the Board of Trustees, National Working Committee, and Atiku have given Nigerians reasons to trust us to bring all party members together. You will begin to see more actions. The NWC and the BoT are working. We are united, you saw that play out at the book launch of Solomon Lar.”
Speaking on the preparedness of the PDP, he said “We are ready and we are compliant with the rules. Some other parties are playing catch up. We signed the peace accord, and Atiku was there. A party candidate did not show up. We don’t want a President by proxy.”
