PDP uses an indirect primary and receives N259 million from Ondo gov candidates

Through the selling of nomination and expression of interest forms to seven Ondo State gubernatorial candidates, the Peoples Democratic Party has raised N259 million.

November 16, 2024, is when the Ondo State governorship election will take place.

Form sales were launched by the PDP on March 7 and concluded on Thursday, March 21, in accordance with its activities plan.

The forms must be filled out and submitted by the candidates who purchased them by March 25 at the latest.

The PDP charged N30m for its nomination form, N5m for its expression of interest form, N1m for the party branding fee, and N1m for secretarial costs.

Nonetheless, the party offered candidates who are female and have challenges free access to the Expression of Interest Form.

As to the party’s pre-election program, the PDP will convene a congress on April 25, 2024, at which point its candidate for governor would be announced.

The party declared that an indirect primary will be used to select its candidate for governor.

According to our correspondent’s inquiry as of Thursday afternoon, seven candidates had paid the N2 million fee and acquired N35 million forms at the PDP national office in Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

The candidates who have purchased the forms are Agboola Ajayi, a former deputy governor of Ondo State; Olusola Ebiseni, a former chieftain and commissioner of Afenifere; Akinwumi Adeolu; Otunba Bamidele Akingboye; Kolade Akinjo; Bosun Arebuwa; and attorney John Mafo.

It was exclusively revealed to The PUNCH that the PDP decided to select its candidate for the Ondo State governorship position through an indirect primary.

Speaking with our correspondent in confidence, a top PDP National Working Committee member said, “The PDP’s Ondo State ticket is accessible to all.” We have approved three ad hoc arrangements and delegates for an indirect primary, but we have not been informed of any consensus by the NWC.

“It implies that members will elect delegates at ward and local government levels. These delegates will subsequently choose the party’s candidate through an indirect primary.”

Bosun Arebuwa and Kolade Akinjo, two candidates for governor of Ondo State, have cautioned other contenders not to view winning the party’s ticket as a matter of life and death in the interim.

They emphasized that the goal was to protect the populace from the purported mismanagement of the All Progressives Congress, which is currently in power.

Soon after obtaining their papers from the PDP secretariat, Arebuwa and Akinjo spoke with media in Abuja.

“We have learned our lessons and we are united; I can assure you that we are united,” Arebuwa declared. And anyone who would go through what we are going through without banding together to fight their adversaries is nothing but a fool.

“I have always been in support of any candidate in the PDP. Getting the ticket or not getting it does not stop me from supporting. It’s not a do-or-die affair. I am not desperate, but I am ready to serve our people; that’s my own. So, our goal is to win and restore Ondo State to the PDP.

“It is not about me. That’s why you don’t see my posters everywhere. It’s about our people and our party.”

Akinjo expressed his gratitude by saying, “This realizes my dream of competing in the PDP primary and winning the nomination to run for governor.” Everything has its proper time, and this particular goal has its time.

“Our goal is to offer an alternative to the mismanagement that permeates every part of that particular state at the moment. An alternative to their corrupt practices, an alternative to their idea that it is difficult to provide water to the people, and an alternative to their notion that it is impossible to promote free education. In Ondo State, I stand for an alternative to everything they are unable to achieve.

“The goal of my ambition is to restore good governance in Ondo State, to reintroduce transparency, and to ensure a significantly improved quality of life for our people.”