THE Peoples Democratic Party governorship aspirant, Jimi Lawal, was yesterday suspended for allegedly conducting and participating in an “illegal” governorship primary election.
The party which had been divided into three factions was asked to conduct a fresh primary within 14 days by court however the time frame had lapsed.
The party suspended Lawal along side four others who are: Bola Odunmosun, the financial secretary of the party, Fasiu Ajadi, Kola Akinyemi and Tope Asiru, the party chairman of Ijebu North-East Local Government Area for anti party activities .
The party’s secretary, Sunday Solarin, announced their suspension, at a news conference held at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Lawal and the others, according to Solarin, were suspended for holding and taking part in a “illegal” governorship primary election that was not approved by the party’s national working committee. This, he stated, was a violation of the party’s constitution.
According to Solarin, Lawal and the others had been placed on administrative leave for one month, pending the conclusion of a disciplinary committee that would be formed to look into their behavior.
Also the state’s primary election for the party that produced Ladi Adebutu has been declared invalid by a Federal High Court with jurisdiction sitting in Abeokuta.
In her ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Oguntoyinbo, ordered the party to hold new primaries within the next 14 days.
The Independent National Electoral Commission was also forbidden by the court from recognizing Adebutu as the party’s candidate for governor in the state.
However, the party’s NWC has promised to appeal the judgment.
According to reports, the faction of Lawal held a factional governorship primary poll yesterday in the state capital of Abeokuta after the 14-day deadline had passed.
But, the party’s leadership in the state denounced Lawal and the members of his section for their actions, adamantly stating that the PDP would not support any behavior intended to bring the party into dishonor.
Solarin said, “All of these shenanigans will be put to bed and we have resolved that the principal actors of the illegal primary election will be exposed. They have been found to have transgressed the laws of the party and their punishment will be given.
“We were informed that an illegal congress was going to happen today and that history has it as of this afternoon that some people gathered somewhere to carry out an action that is not constitutionally or statutorily assigned to them.
“We have also resolved today that Otunba Jimi Lawal, is also going to be on suspension with immediate effect because he participated actively in a congress not conducted by the state executives of the party, an action which has been found to bring the party into disrepute.
“We must also emphasis the fact that in a house where discipline is missing definitely such house will not raise good children and they are not going to raise good ambassadors for that family.
“Because PDP is a house that believes in the rule of law, it is a house built by our forefathers, managed by all of us we are not going to open our eyes and allow some dissidence to destroy the house and therefore we must tow the path of discipline by showing them the way.
“So they are suspended for the next one month in which case the disciplinary committee will be setup and they will be invited to come and explain the action they took, the reason why their suspension will not be elongated or the reason why it will not be translated to expulsion.”
