Kunle Adelabu
Who is the authentic candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Ikorodu Federal Constituency in the forthcoming elections, between Mr Abdul-Azeez Adekunle Awesu and Mr Abdu-Kareem Shittu? This is a question that ordinarily should not pose any difficulty to answer if there has been a democratic primary, but going by the complex nature of Nigeria’s polity, the more questions are asked, the more questions would be raised.
In actual fact, the court judgment which favoured Shittu for the position, also seems not to be enough for members of the party to toe the path of compliance as various interests in the party have continued to work at variance and are miles away from creating a formidable team capable of wrestling power from the incumbent who is consolidating on his chances on daily basis.
Meanwhile, Awesu, who has been involved in massive campaign prior to the primary election, is undeterred as he has not only organised a rally to create awareness for his political aspiration on October 1, but also went all the way to mobilise party members and residents to participate in the rally to show his political strength, an action which has left many bewildered over who the PDP candidate for the House of Representative seat really is?
The crisis started when the party’s primary election failed to hold on Sunday, May 22 and Monday, May 24, 2022, at the Ikorodu Club, Aga, Ikorodu, while aspirants, delegates and party members were not given any reason for the action.
At the June 6 rescheduled date, it was a keenly contested election as both aspirants polled 28 votes each with no clear winner.
Subsequently, the party at the state level announced Awesu as its preferred candidate. On the other hand, Shittu approached the court and secured a judgment from the High Court presided over by Justice Daniel Osiagor who declared him as rightful candidate for the Ikorodu Federal Constituency seat.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on September 20, 2022, released names of Presidential and National Assembly candidates and for the Ikorodu Federal Constituency, the electoral umpire, in accordance with the court ruling, affirmed Mr Abdul – Kareem Shittu as the candidate of PDP.
That was the situation until October 1, when Mr Abdul-Azeez Adekunle Awesu staged a massive rally to assure party members and residents that he is still fully in the race.
Speaking with THE IMPACT, an executive member of the PDP in Ikorodu said that the party is divided while he also entertained fears that the party might not go into the election as a united party.
“Well, we now have two major camps as far as the Ikorodu Federal Constituency seat is concerned and that has polarized the party. While the section supporting Awesu is now holding their meeting at the Ogunsanya’s house, the rest are holding theirs at the party secretariat at Olubi”, he said.
“It’s unfortunate that some of our leaders that are supposed to see all the aspirants as theirs took side with a particular and today, it has divided the party as a candidate is now seeing the party as an opposition.
“We don’t even know which is which again. According to INEC, Shittu is our House of Representative candidate, but Awesu is still very popular among party members and still enjoying the support of the party at the state level”, he added.
Balogun Rotimi Olatubosun, an aspirant for the Ikorodu Constituency I seat on the platform of the PDP, reacting to a post on the Governor and Deputy Governorship candidates of the Labour Party at the weekend, confirmed that there are serious crisis within the PDP in Lagos State.
While stating that his friend (Shittu) won back his mandate through the court, Balogun further stated that the party is in disarray in Ikorodu.
“….At least, you are seeing the crisis everywhere in the PDP. It’s a grand plan by the APC in Lagos State. (In our party) alone, we have over 20 cases in courts by Assembly and Rep Aspirants and these have destroyed PDP’s unity bro. If you know the spirit presently on the ground hmmmmm”, he said.
“In Ikorodu, one of my friends won his mandate back through the court process and now the lkorodu (PDP) is in disarray”, he added.
Dr Oshin Olanrewaju, Chairman, PDP Ikorodu Local Government, speaking with THE IMPACT on phone at the weekend, said that crisis is natural to political parties, especially during electioneering period.
The party chairman also stated that Shittu is at the moment the party candidate for the House of Representatives.
“It is natural for differences to occur within the party when there is election, but the party decision is always supreme”, he said.
“In this case, there was no clear winner in our primary, but recently, a court declared Shittu as the candidate of the PDP and as a party, we have to accept that verdict. So, at the moment, it is Shittu that we have as the PDP candidate for Ikorodu Federal Constituency seat”, he added.
While responding to our reporter’s question on the massive rally staged by Awesu on the lndependence Day, Oshin said that the contender may be sustaining his campaign so as not to start all over when his appeal is granted.
“What Awesu is doing is to keep the flag flying because he has been campaigning before and he feels that it is necessary to sustain that so that he doesn’t start afresh if he gets judgment in his appeal”, he said.
Also speaking on the split within the party, the PDP Chairman said that there is no controversy regarding the party’s secretariat and his chairmanship.
“In Ikorodu today, we have the PDP Secretariat at Olubi Street and that is the only known party secretariat where my executive and l do hold our meetings and there is no controversy about that, but we are happy that unlike before, we now have multiple places where people are converging for PDP meetings”, Dr Oshin said.
“We encourage campaigns, caucuses and other meetings elsewhere and it is a sign that our party is growing and that we are having more people joining us”.
Meanwhile, Awesu who spoke with our reporter after his rally on October 1, confirmed that he has appealed the judgment of the High Court that gave Shittu the mandate of the party as the candidate for the Ikorodu Federal Constituency.
He said that the rally on October 1, was a wakeup call for the party and boosted his supporter’s confidence that he is still the candidate of the party.
“They actually thought that the judgment would demoralise me and my people, but it did not. There is no way they would build something on nothing.
“The massive crowd that came out for me was because the whole party knows who has been there for them and who is really on ground.
“I hope that Mr Shittu would waste no more time in joining me in winning the election for our party”.
“I believe that the Appeal Court will look into the matter and give me justice.
“I am still the candidate of the PDP and I still have the INEC returned form and I am confident in the upper court. I am very confident and there is no course for alarm”, he said.
Many observers have observed that the situation that PDP found itself in would further reduced its chances of posing any threat to the incumbent representative of the Ikorodu Federal Constituency and the APC candidate, Rep. Babajimi Benson.
A total of 8 candidates were released by INEC as cleared to contest the 2023 elections as candidates of other parties for the Ikorodu Federal Constituency. Aside Shittu and Benson, other candidates cleared are: Itodo Ojonugwa Peter (A), Babasola Babatomiwa Philip (ADC), Oguntola Ayodele (ADP), Junaid Muyideen Olasunkanmi (NNPP), Dolapo Kuku (SDP) and Adenipebi Abosede Oyebukola (ZLP).
