Ogun primary rerun: Lawal tackles National Chairman, Ayu, over PDP’s letter to INEC

He stated that: “Based on several infractions and subsisting judgments of several courts of competent jurisdiction in respect of Ogun State PDP, the Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, nullified the earlier primaries held by the party and restrained INEC from publishing the names of all those earlier nominated as candidates of the party.

“The court then ordered the State Executive Committee of the PDP to conduct fresh primaries. That was what the State Executive Committee complied with. In doing that, members of the State Executive Committee wrote letters to INEC inviting it to monitor the primaries.

“If Ayu has any problem with individuals and institutions complying with valid court judgments, he should exercise his right of appeal and await the decision of the appellate courts. It is not in his place to determine, which orders or judgments should be obeyed or who should obey or refrain from obeying valid orders and judgments of courts. He cannot teleguide INEC to join him in his lawlessness.”

In a letter to INEC, the PDP’s NEC described the purported rerun election that produced Jimi Lawal as the party’s governorship candidate as a gross violation of Section 50 of the PDP’s Constitution, which empowers the National Working Committee (NWC) on behalf of the NEC to formulate guidelines and regulation for the nomination of candidates into all elective offices at all levels.

The party stated clearly that the Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta, which gave judgment that the state executive body of Ogun PDP should conduct a rerun of primaries following the court’s nullification of previous primaries, contradicted the Electoral Act 2022 and the PDP’s constitution.

Ayu and Anyanwu on behalf of the party’s NEC asked INEC to disregard any letter or correspondence written by any member of the State Executive of the Ogun State chapter of the party and the commission should be circumspect in its dealings with these persons in future.

The party also urged INEC to respect the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, which provides that the national chairman and national secretary of the party and not the state executive must sign all correspondence between it and political parties.