Ogun PDP Warns Against Moves To Alter Delegates’ List To Favour Bankole

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News Wednesday, November 26th, 2014

The Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has warned against any attempt to impose on it the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole.

Dimeji Bankole

In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, the party said any attempt to circumvent due process and impose Bankole would be resisted.

In the statement endorsed by the State Publicity Secretary, Waliu Oladipupo, the party warned of dire consequences should any attempt be made by anyone, “no matter how highly-placed to impose Bankole on us in Ogun State”, adding that, “If he is popular and wants to contest, he should face other aspirants at the governorship primary and not cling to one man to smuggle a fraudulent delegates list through the back door and impose him on us. It won’t work. In fact, it would be battle to finish.”

The statement reads in part, “Our attention has been drawn to the desperate last minute efforts being made by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, to have a fraudulently composed list of purported delegates of a non-conducted congress smuggled into the records of the national secretariat of our great party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“It is against this background that that w wish to draw the attention of the President, Vice-President, Senate President, National Chairman of our great party, Chairman, Board of Trustees and National Organising Secretary of our great party; to the fraudulent last minute game that Bankole is playing in his desperate bid to become the governorship candidate of the PDP.

“He did not participate in the congress to elect the 3-man Ad-hoc delegates across the state. It was midway into the congress that his agents brought 700 delegate forms and wanted to force the National Congress Committee into accepting them. When it was rejected, they went to Protea Hotel in Apo, Abuja, where they wrote some fake list.”

The party said that the list of the authentic delegates conducted by the Engr. Adebayo Dayo-led State Executive Committee in conjunction with National Congress Committee, which was monitored by INEC and the security agencies, has been obtained from the commission, stressing that the party was in possession of the Certified True Copy (CTC) from INEC.

“The State Exco has also obtained the Certified True Copy of the three-man Ad-hoc delegates list from the National Secretariat of the party. Dated 25^th November, 2014, the list was endorsed by the office of the National Legal Adviser of our great party. So, we wonder how Bankole came about the fake list that he is carrying about and wants to be smuggled into INEC and the national secretariat of our great party.

“For the avoidance of any doubt, we do know for a fact that the counsel to the Ogun State PDP, Dr. Alex Iziyon, has written a letter to the National Secretariat of our great party with the list of authentic delegates obtained from INEC. He also accompanied the letter with an injunction restraining the relevant organs and agencies from accepting any other list apart from the one certified by INEC,” the party said.

The party recalled that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP only reversed the ward congresses in Oyo, Lagos and Cross River states, adding, “It would be a huge surprise if anyone attempts to tamper with the congresses and delegates list in Ogun State. We would resist such an attempt with everything at our disposal. It would not stand.”