Akala, Akinjide declare return ticket to Senate leader illegal

By  Ola Ajayi, Ibadan

FORMER Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard Akinjide, and Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State say the purported rerun primary election which declared Senator Teslim Folarin winner of the PDP ticket for Oyo Central Senatorial District was illegal.

Akinjide, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP said the election was not at the venue recognized by the Article of the party’s constitution which stipulates that the primary should be conducted at the senatorial headquarters, which is Oyo town.

Akala, through his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said, “Folarin never held primary anywhere. From Ladigbolu to Ilora to CRIN to Methodist at Challenge area, no trace of Folarin primary was seen or attended by anyone including journalists because it never held. Decoys and subterfuge will never be allowed to replace genuine plebiscite in Oyo State”.

He said the manner the PDP national secretariat ordered for rerun election only in Oyo Central was still a puzzle to him.
His daughter, Jumoke Akinjide, had won the ticket for that senatorial district before the PDP ordered a rerun without giving any cogent reason for doing so.

Already, Jumoke has secured a court order restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission and the party from organizing the primary which she said violated the stance of the electoral body that there should not be any rerun election.