The names of the governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and that of the Labour Party were conspicuously missing on the Independent National Electoral Commission list following the release of the names of the parties flagbearers.
Our correspondent observed that the commission released the names of 13 political parties and their candidates in the final list on Tuesday.
On the list sighted by our correspondent on Tuesday, the PDP appeared on the list as number 21, but the names of both the governorship candidate and his running mate were missing.
The commission cited “court order” as a reason for omission on the final list.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abeokuta had last week Tuesday decided on a suit filed by the three members of PDP and nullified all the primaries conducted by the party in the state.
The court also barred INEC from recognising Ladi Adebutu as the governorship candidate of the party in the state.
Delivering his ruling, Justice O. O Oguntoyinbo ordered the conduct of fresh primaries for all the positions within 14 days.
The trio had dragged the party, Ladi Adebutu and the Independent National Electoral Commission to court challenging the authenticity of the delegates’ lists used for the conduct of the primaries.
The plaintiffs contended that the persons on the delegates’ list used by the electoral panel for the primaries were not democratically elected at the ward, local government and state congresses, hence the panel “cannot unilaterally or arbitrarily impose” the list on the party for the primaries.
In the case of LP, neither the party nor its candidate appeared on the INEC’s list.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Niyi Iyalaje, told our correspondent that the list pasted was the one authorised by the INEC’s headquarters in Abuja.
For the ruling All Progressives Congress, Governor Dapo Abiodun was named on the list as the party’s candidate.
Also on the list were, Biyi Otegbeye as the candidate of the African Democratic Congress, and Oguntoyinbo Femi Ajadi for the New Nigeria Peoples Party among others.
Reacting, the spokesman for the PDP in the state, Akinloye Bankole, said, “The INEC simply obeyed the court order and that explains why our candidate’s names were missing.
“We have appealed the judgment and we await the decision of the appeal court on the issue.”
