Ogun guber: Appeal Court sacks Kashamu as PDP candidate

The Appeal Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday, declared Ladi Adebutu as the Ogun State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

With the verdict, the decision of an Abeokuta High Court which earlier declared Buruji Kashamu the candidate has been upturned.

Giving its judgement in the suit filed by the Adebutu faction of the PDP in Ogun State, the three-man appeal panel headed by A.B. Bada resolved that Adebutu is the PDP candidate.

It would be recalled that the PDP in Ogun State has been divided into two with Adebutu and Kashamu claiming to be the governorship candidates of the party ahead of the 2019 election.

Although the national body of the party had declared Adebutu as its candidate, Kashamu, only recently, came out to declare that he was the candidate.

He was handed the party’s flag by Adebayo Dayo who is the chairman of his faction.

Following the development, the party at the national level described Kashamu as a clown.

The statement issued to that effect by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, reads in part:

“Senator Buruji, in his forced hallucination, has failed to realize that Nigerians, particularly the voters in Ogun State, have seen through his antics; they know that he is not the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State; they know that he has a pact with the All Progressives Congress (APC) to destabilise the PDP; they also know that he is a clown on a journey to no where.

“Nigerians are aware that Senator Buruji never purchased PDP nomination form; never participated in our governorship primary or in any process related to nomination of governorship candidate of our party or any position whatsoever.

“Those using Senator Buruji as their agent have turned him into object of public ridicule, particularly in his charade of organizing a rally to hand a fake flag to himself.

“The PDP therefore urges the people of Ogun state to completely disregard Senator Buruji as a clown and continue in their support for the PDP governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, who is already coasting to victory.”