Dissatisfied with the purported endorsement of an Ogun governorship, a group under the aegis of Political Parties Chairmen Forum in Ogun has dissociated itself with it, calling it an act of political fraud.
The group said the purported adoption and endorsement of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) governorship candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, by 60 party chairmen in the state was totally false.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Akinlade, who currently represents Ipokia area of Yewa in the House of Representatives, is Gov. Ibikunle Amosun’s candidate.
He and his supporters defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in November for allegedly “denying” him the party’s ticket.
The group, an affiliate of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), said the pronouncement made by the Chairman of IPAC, Abayomi Arabambi, “is not true”.
Addressing journalists in Abeokuta, the spokesperson for the group, Mr Olusegun Olufemi, said it rejected in totality the adoption of any governorship candidate, describing the action as “a gross misconduct, abuse of office and actions inimical to the constitution of IPAC by its executive members in Ogun State”.
According to him, IPAC by its rules and regulations, has no mandate to endorse or adopt any candidate and further described the adoption of Akinlade as “fake and fraudulent”.
“We were not carried along about the adoption, Arabambi-led executive is like bread and butter, endorsing any political party; his executive is a fake mask and it should be frowned at by the people.
“The IPAC’s chairman (Arabambi) has over stepped his bounds and we will not fold our arms and watch him disgrace other members of IPAC,” he said.
Olufemi, who is the Ogun chairman and the governorship candidate of Better Nigerian Progressive Party (BNPP), noted that no fewer than 38 political parties would vie for the governorship position in the state.
He added that IPAC’s main role was to ensure inter-party harmony and not endorsing any particular candidate, especially when member-parties had their own governorship candidates.
Olufemi, in company of the state chairmen of Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), Mr Biola Lawal and the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)’s Mr Okuoye Taiwo, said the Forum, made up of 10 political parties, had written a petition to the National Chairman of IPAC, Mr Peter Ameh, over the matter.
