Former senator and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Ogun Central Senatorial District, Iyabo Obasanjo, has alleged that opponents engineered the exclusion of the party’s governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, from INEC’s final list because they fear a credible contest.
Naija News reports that Obasanjo made the allegation during an appearance on The Arena, a podcast based in Abeokuta, describing the development as a danger to the country’s democracy.
The daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo said she did not initially take the reports seriously because the Senate and House of Representatives lists had already been released.
She said her enquiries showed that Adebutu complied with the same requirements as other PDP candidates whose names were published.
“What is it that Honourable Ladi did differently than what we did? And when I asked that question, I have a scientific mind. The answer was, he did the exact same thing, right? That we all did.
“The next question is then why is his name not in the list?” she said.
Obasanjo alleged that her findings pointed to illegal moves by political rivals, adding that no tenable reason had been offered for the omission.
She, however, expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved, saying, “His name is going to be back (on the list).”
The former lawmaker warned that, if allowed to stand, the incident would open the door for wealthy politicians to eliminate their rivals.
“If this happens, then a democracy will crash because everybody that is a money bag will go to Abuja and give the neutral institution money to remove anybody they think can beat them,” she said.
“And so the idea is that, can one man’s desperation to be governor allow us to kill our democracy?” she asked.
Obasanjo insisted that the issue was bigger than Adebutu or the PDP.
“It is not even about Honourable Adebutu, it’s not about PDP, it’s about the democracy Nigeria runs. But every time you keep breaking rules, it eventually leads to the end of that experiment. And you don’t know which rule will break it,” she said.
Asked whether the development could hurt the party’s fortunes, the PDP candidate said supporters remained resolute.
“No. Our people are firm in what they want to do. I believe Honourable Ladi’s name will be back,” she said.
She predicted a strong showing for the party in the state, noting that many residents now looked back with appreciation at former Governor Gbenga Daniel’s administration.
On her short-lived membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Obasanjo said she did not regret the move, as she joined in good faith, partly because of her relationship with President Bola Tinubu.
“I joined APC in good faith. So I have no regrets,” she said.
She, however, criticised how the party handled candidate selection in Ogun, insisting that true consensus must include all aspirants and that a party that disregards its members’ interests should not expect electoral success.
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