‘No Results Yet On Kwara PDP Governorship Primary’

The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara state, Chief Iyiola Oyedepo and his executive members have disagreed over the status of Senator Simeon Ajibola as the party’s governorship candidate.

Although Oyedepo said only the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party could declare the winners of the congresses, including the governorship primaries, but the party’s executive committee upheld Ajibola’s election, The Nation reports.

Oyedepo insisted that no official result had been released on the primaries.

The party chairman said the state chapter of the PDP lacked the power to recognize candidates except those announced as winners by the NWC.

“In recent times, the mass media and the public have been worried about the outcome of the primaries of our party, which were held between November 29 and December 11,” Oyedepo said in a statement he issued yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital.

He added: “I have, however, restrained myself from issuing out the results of the primaries because it is not my duty to do so. Usually, the people who came from Abuja to conduct the primaries are to report to the national secretariat.

“The result of the election can only be made public after the endorsement of the NWC. The issue of recognizing one candidate or the other does not arise, as it is in the powers of the NWC to do so. Those who are hungry to know our candidates should wait a little; the national secretariat will soon make available to the public the winners of the primaries conducted in Kwara State.”

Oyedepo added that “any other contrary message should be regarded as unauthorized”.

But the Assistant Publicity Secretary of PDP in the state, Yusuf Femi, in a statement, said majority of the executive committee members attended the all-important meeting.

The statement reads: “The PDP state executive committee, Kwara State chapter, rose from our extra-ordinary meeting today(December 17) with majority of the members in attendance.

“That the meeting ended, living the executive members stronger and more united. It was resolved in the meeting that the result of the governorship primaries held on December 11, in which Senator Simeon Sule Ajibola was declared winner, is hereby up held.