ABEOKUTA – The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ogun State has urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, to accept responsibility for the candidate’s omission from the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) final list of candidates for the 2027 governorship election.
The ruling party accused the opposition PDP of engaging in a blame game by alleging that pressure from the APC was responsible for Adebutu’s non-listing.
In a reaction to allegations reportedly made by the PDP’s Publicity Secretary, Kayode Adebayo, and Adebutu, the Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the Ogun State APC Campaign Council, High Chief Kayode Odunaro, urged the opposition party to allow INEC to discharge its responsibilities in accordance with the law.
Odunaro maintained that the electoral commission was obligated to enforce the provisions of the Electoral Act and follow due process in preparing the list of candidates for the election.
“APC and its candidates are contestants with other political parties’ candidates in the race towards 2027, under INEC as the umpire and regulatory body. How can anyone now attribute the failure of PDP to follow through on simple administrative procedures and adherence to rules of the game as pressure from APC on INEC leading to the non-listing of their candidate as a contestant?” he queried.
He further claimed that candidates in other states had suffered similar omissions over alleged non-compliance with electoral requirements, arguing that the situation was not peculiar to the PDP in Ogun State.
“The nationally comatose PDP should stop the blame game on APC and its flagbearer, Senator Solomon Adeola, for all their gambling tendencies in simple matters of following laid-down rules,” Odunaro said.
The APC spokesman said his party and its governorship candidate, Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, were prepared to contest against any candidate recognised by INEC for the election.
He, however, argued that the ruling party would not waste time focusing on a candidate who had not been included on the commission’s list.
“Our stand on this is that APC and its candidate for the governorship race are campaigning to win based on proven and verifiable performance, capacity, equity and justice with our nine-point ITESIWAJU manifesto,” Odunaro said.
He added that the APC would not sympathise with any party or candidate that failed to comply with established electoral rules.
Using a football analogy, Odunaro likened the situation to a team fielding an ineligible player, which could undermine its chances of winning a match.
The APC also reiterated its confidence in Adeola’s popularity ahead of the February 2027 governorship election, insisting that Ogun State should not be left with what it described as an “Iperu-to-Iperu governor” under a PDP administration.
