Ahead of the Ondo gubernatorial polls, two factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have submitted two different names as their candidates in the race to replace Governor Olusegun Mimiko.
The Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led working committee submitted the name of Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), while factional leader Senator Ali Modu Sheriff gave the name of Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim as its own candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Punch reports that the Modu-Sheriff-led faction relied on two court orders, one of which asked INEC to take candidates for the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states from Sheriff’s camp.
Spokesman for Modu-Sheriff’s faction, Mr. Bernard Mikko, a former member of the House of Representatives, confirmed Ibrahim as their candidate, adding that victory in the coming election was assured..
“We have a formidable candidate in Jimoh Ibrahim and we have forwarded his name to INEC as the party’s candidate,” Mikko said.
“We believe he will defeat any other candidate based on the clean process that threw him up and his antecedents in the state.
“He had contested before and was still well received by the electorate. He’s our candidate for the election.”
Reacting to the development, a member of the National Caretaker Committee under the leadership of Makarfi, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the aim of the Sheriff group would come to nothing, just the way the faction failed in its bid to submit another name as the party’s governorship candidate in Edo State.
Adeyeye wondered where the faction got the courage to take the name to INEC, considering the electoral body did not monitor the primary in Oyo State that produced its candidate compared to Jegede’s that was done in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
“If they do that (submit Ibrahim’s name to INEC), it will amount to nothing. This is because, we have court judgments in our favour and moreover, INEC did not monitor their own primary,” he said.
“Let them continue with the entertainment. Nigerians are enjoying their drama.”
Meanwhile, INEC’s Deputy Director on Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Nick Dazang confirmed the candidate submitted by Makarfi’s group.
“Yes, one of them, the Makarfi group had submitted the name of its candidate. I’m not sure if the Sheriff faction has done the same thing either today (Thursday) or yesterday (Wednesday).
“At the end of the day, the commission will sit down to look at the law and take a position on who is the right candidate and who is not.”
The Ondo governorship election holds on November 26.
