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Ogun PDP Asks EFCC, ICPC To Investigate Gov Aspirant, INEC

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The Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sought the intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices (ICPC) and other related offences commission over an alleged forged delegate list.

The Ogun PDP said it wants the EFCC and the ICPC to investigate one of the party’s governorship aspirants identified as Jimi Lawal for allegedly forging the delegates’ list.

The party accused Lawal of presenting the forged list to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the May 25 governorship primary election held in the state.

Naija News gathered that the Ogun PDP revealed that it had discovered that Lawal has conspired with some INEC top officials to use the alleged forged delegates’ list to “deceive, manipulate and misrepresent facts.”

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Lawal and his supporters were reported to have rejected a delegates’ list reportedly brought from the party’s national secretariat during the May 25 PDP governorship primary, of which Ladi Adebutu emerged winner.

The party remarked that Lawal had sequel to his rejection of the alleged authentic list from the party’s national secretariat said aspirants on the list were not democratically elected at the ward, local government, and state congresses.

The party, therefore, called for the investigation of Lawal and the INEC officials involved in the alleged fraud.

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However, Naija News understands that the party in two separate petitions by its lawyer, Oladimeji Balogun, dated Thursday, October 27 had written to the chairmen of the EFCC and ICPC, demanding the investigation of Lawal and some officials of INEC in the state for allegedly suppressing the authentic delegates’ list of the party.

And also addressed the other to the national chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, in which the party accused the Head of Department and Party Monitoring of the state INEC and Director of Election and Party Monitoring department at INEC headquarters in Abuja of “deliberate and criminal suppression of the PDP authentic delegates’ list with a view to fraudulently substituting the original documents with an unlawful delegate result purportedly submitted by Lawal.”

Meanwhile, the Residence Electoral Commissioner of INEC in the state, Niyi Ijalaye was reported to have said he didn’t know about the petitions.

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He pointed out that “One, I have not sighted the petition, number two, the petition was not addressed to me. If there is a forgery, that is a matter for the police, but personally, I’m unaware of that document any forgery.

“But, if there is actually a forgery or an alleged forgery, it must be a matter to be investigated by the security agencies.

“I don’t know about it. Forgery is a crime against the state, I think it is a matter that should be rightly handled by the security agencies.”

Also, a media aide to Lawal, Austin Oniyorko, who reacted to the issue said the party’s action is an exercise in futility.

Oniyorko, who denied that his boss did not commit any economic crime that would warrant an EFCC invitation advanced that “When did the issue of delegate list become an economic issue? It is a sign of failure, it is a sign of desperation and it shows that these people are losing it.

“They woke up now and invited EFCC and ICPC, is it the ICPC, is it the EFCC that will upturn the court’s judgements.”

Recall that three members of the Ogun PDP identified as Taiwo Olabode Idris, Kehinde Akala and Alhaji Ayinde Monsuri have challenged the authenticity of the delegates’ lists used for the conduct of the primaries in a Federal High court sitting in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Justice O.O Oguntoyinbo of the High Court nullified all the primary elections conducted by the party in the state and also asked that the Ogun PDP conduct fresh primaries within the next 14 days of the judgement.