Adebutu, Sowunmi… Ogun PDP produces two guber candidates in parallel elections

An electoral committee of governorship primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun state has declared Oladipupo Adebutu candidate of the party in the 2023 election.

This is coming less than 24 hours after Segun Sowunmi, former spokesman of the Atiku Campaign Organisation, was declared governorship candidate of the party in a parallel election held by a faction of the party in the state.

Sowunmi polled 554 votes to defeat his closest rival, Jimi Lawal, who scored 30 votes, while Adebutu polled 15 votes.

The election that produced Sowunmi, which held at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abeokuta, the state capital, was said to have been monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and members of the Inter Party Advisory Council of Nigeria (IPAC).

While the primary election that produced Adebutu, a former member of the house of representatives, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, in the state capital.

Akase Sorkaa, chairman of the electoral committee of the primary of the PDP in the state, announced Adebutu as the winner of the election after he garnered 714 votes to defeat his rivals.

Other governorship hopefuls, Sowunmi, Jimi Lawal, and Abimbola Abodunrin, recorded zero votes.

The election was, however, said to have been marred by violence and disagreement over “authentic delegates list” to be adopted for the exercise.

Reacting to the results of the election, Adebutu asked other aspirants to join hands with him in moving the state forward.

“We will continue to encourage the other aspirants, that this journey is for the sake of mankind, and the impoverished people of Ogun State. It is not for a particular person and it’s the sacrifice that we need to all make,” he said.

“I believe that the other aspirants mean well, and will surely act in the good interest of Ogun State by coming into the fold so that we can do the job together.”