ABEOKUTA – A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Olootu Bolaji Adeniji, on Sunday urged the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate, Hon. Ladi Adebutu, and his supporters, to stop blaming the APC and its candidate, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as YAYI, for Adebutu’s omission from INEC’s final list of candidates for the February 6, 2027 governorship
Adeniji, a member of Ogun APC campaign council’s media and communications teams, said Adebutu’s omission is a question of “electoral compliance rather than an opportunity for political accusations against the ruling party”.
Speaking to newsmen on Sunday in Abeokuta the state capital, he argued that neither YAYI nor the APC should be held responsible for the administrative or procedural shortcomings that may have occurred within PDP’s nomination process.
The PDP has accused the ruling party, APC, of being complicit with INEC over the decision that led to the omission of Adebutu.
Reacting to the development, Adeniji said the PDP should concentrate on establishing facts rather than directing accusations at political opponents.
“Ladi Adebutu and his supporters must understand that YAYI and the APC are not responsible for the internal administrative and nomination decisions of the PDP. If there is a question about the party’s membership register or compliance with the electoral act, the party must address it directly with the umpire”.
“You can not transfer responsibility for your own failure to your political opponents simply because the consequences have become dire. Adebutu must take responsibility for the choices made within his own camp,” Adeniji said.
He stressed that the relevant issue was whether PDP satisfied the requirements governing membership registration and participation in party primaries, particularly Section 77(5) of the Electoral Act, 2026.
The provision restricts participation in party primaries, congresses, and conventions to members whose names appear on the membership register submitted to INEC within the prescribed period.
According to Adeniji, the PDP should establish whether Adebutu’s name appeared on the relevant register submitted by the party’s leadership and whether the nomination process complied with the law.
“The law does not ask whether a candidate belongs to the ruling party or the opposition. It asks whether the relevant requirements have been met. If the PDP believes that Adebutu complied with the law, it should present the documents that support its position.
“But if the issue concerns the membership register and the process through which the candidate emerged, blaming YAYI will not answer those questions,” he said.
“Every political party must take responsibility for its own decisions. Adebutu should direct his attention to the issues that produced this unfortunate situation and use the appropriate route to seek redress if he believes an injustice has occurred”.
“YAYI and the APC should not be made the scapegoats for a controversy whose resolution depends on the facts, the applicable law and the actions of the institutions responsible for the electoral process,” Adeniji stated.
