Guber poll: I’m still in the race — PDP candidate

Factional governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Hon Ladi Adebutu yesterday allayed fears over a report in a section of the media credited to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which purportedly disowned him as candidate in the forthcoming election.

In a statement issued yesterday and signed by his spokesman, Mr Afolabi Orekoya, Adebutu said the report credited to the National Commissioner for Information, Media and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, did not disown him, but was quoted out of context.

The statement reads in part: ‘’Okoye was wrongly quoted by desperate and mischievous people who are only interested in misleading the public and cause confusion to the disadvantage of the People’s Democratic Party in Ogun State.

‘’Okoye only mentioned that INEC was obeying judgments of properly constituted courts of law as reason for publishing the names of candidates, and never mentioned Hon Ladi Adebutu’s name. But he failed to mention that INEC refused to act on an Appeal Court judgment that nullified the order that their decision was based on.

‘’The Appeal Court sitting  in Ibadan(Oyo state) on December 18,2018 had delivered a judgments  that nullified he order of a Federal High Court earlier given by Justice Alubarka  in Abeokuta, Ogun state, where it was affirmed that the party at the national level is vested with the sole right of presenting candidates to INEC.’’