BY Fredrick Nwabufo
The Ahmed Makarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the Ondo governorship election scheduled for November 26.
The faction made the demand against the backdrop of a legal battle over representation in the party.
In October, INEC recognised Jimoh Ibrahim of the Ali Modu Sherrif faction as the candidate of the party – following the order of a federal high court declaring the faction as legitimate.
Eyitayo Jegede, who got a governorship ticket from the Makarfi faction, went to court to validate his candidature.
On Friday, the appeal court, where Jegede’s case was heard, declined to give judgment in the matter adjourning it indefinitely.
In a statement on Saturday, Dayo Adeyeye, spokesman of the Makarfi faction, said the indefinite adjournment was a consequence of the “mischievous actions”, of Sheriff’s and Ibrahim’s lawyers.
He asked INEC to postpone the election just as it did in the case of Edo state.
“The indefinite adjournment is a consequence of the latest of several mischievous actions taken by Messrs Biyi Poroye, Jimoh Ibrahim and their legal team led by Mr Ben Nwofor (SAN). These actions, ranging from unsubstantiated allegations of corruption to outright disrespect and disregard for the justices of the court of appeal to disruption of court proceedings and flagrant abuse of court processes, are all designed to achieve one aim – stall proceedings and ensure that the legitimate candidate of the party is prevented from contesting the November 26th, 2016 gubernatorial election in Ondo state,” he said.
“This outright bullying and intimidation of justices of the court of appeal is enabled by the recent invasion of the homes of justices of the supreme court, and the arrests and harassment of several judges by men of the Department of State Services. These actions are achieving the desired effect as judges are now compelled to refrain from furthering the course of justice by unsubstantiated allegations of corruption.
“We are aware that this is only a part of a much bigger plan to use all available resources of state to prevent the legitimate candidate of the party from running for and winning the Ondo state gubernatorial election. We are aware that this is part of the plan to use the judicial process, security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rig the election in favour of the ruling party (APC) before the election day.”
Adeyeye called on Nigerians to urge the federal government to desist from using the organs of the state to subvert the will of the people.
“At this point, we must urge all Nigerians to hold the federal government, INEC, APC and the Jimoh Ibrahim group for any consequences of the dangerous games that they have chosen to play with the Nigerian people,” he said.
“The judiciary is seen as the last hope of the common man. When the freedom and independence of the judiciary to further the course of justice is tampered with, people often resort to self help. The current situation must not be allowed to deteriorate to that point.
“We call on INEC to postpone the election pending the determination of the suit before the supreme court. We make this call against the backdrop of the fact that INEC is a party to the suit before the court of appeal and supreme court and is well aware of the steps taken by certain parties to the suit to frustrate the course of justice.”
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