* PDP aspirant seeks free, fair primary election
By Nudoiba Ojen
The acting Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, Ondo State, Mr Tola Alabere, has said that it is time for the party to take over Ondo State through winning the forthcoming November governorship election.
This was as a PDP governorship aspirant, Adeolu Akinwumi, appealed to the state and National Working Committees of the party to provide a level-plain ground for all the aspirants for emergence of credible and acceptable candidate.
They spoke in Akure, the state capital, after Adeolu Akinwunmi, picked up the party’s nomination form as the first aspirant to declare his interest to run for the state governorship election under the umbrella of the PDP.
* Adeolu Akinwumi
The PDP is scheduled to hold its primary election on April 25, 2024, while no fewer than eight aspirants are jostling for the ticket of the party in the forthcoming primary.
Alabere, who expressed the party’s readiness to take over the state from the ruling party in the governorship election, warned the people against vote-buying and selling in the forthcoming poll.
The PDP state chairman said, “It is time for the PDP to take over; prayers alone are not enough. We must work; the idea of collecting money during election should be stopped if we want things to change for better”.
Speaking, Akinwumi said, “I will advise the leaders of the party to be fair to all aspirants and give all aspirants a platform to contest fairly and just.”
Akinwumi, who opposed the idea of adopting a consensus mode of election for the primary, pointed out that the PDP was a party with constitution with rules and guidelines, which must be followed when it came to selecting the flag bearer of the party.
On the zoning arrangement, Akinwunmi revealed that the party National Working Committee had declared that there was no official position yet on the issue of zoning and that anyone is free to obtain the form.
