Aspirant emerges PDP candidate for Osun by-election

The younger brother of late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, Ademola, has emerged the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Osun West Senatorial District by-election.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Adeleke, who had been cleared to contest for the primary on the platform of APC, defected to PDP on Tuesday evening.

Adeleke was set to contest the primary in APC unopposed after his opponent, Senator Mudasiru Hussein, was disqualified on Sunday by the APC screening committee headed by ZamfaraAssembly Speaker, Sanusi Rikiji.

Hussein was disqualified by the committee which stated that he was still in active public service against the stipulated party’s guideline.

According to Rikiji, the party’s guideline stipulates that any aspirant that wants to contest an elective office is expected to have resigned from the public service 30 days before the primaries.

Hussein was the Commissioner for Cabinet Matters in the Rauf Aregbesola administration which was inaugurated on May 30.

The disqualification was upheld by the Appeal Committee of the party headed by Abdulahi Bello.

Hussein was, however, cleared on Monday evening by the National Working Committee of the APC to contest the primary.

Adeleke, who contested the PDP primary unopposed on Wednesday in Iwo Local Government Area of the state, scored 343 votes.

In his acceptance speech, Adeleke said the PDP would win the election.

"I accepted to contest the election under PDP and come July 8, we shall have victory.

"Victory shall be ours and nothing can stop us. We are moving forward because it is God’s project," he said.

The PDP Chairman in the state, Mr Soji Adagunodo, said the party would win the by-election.

According to him, there is no faction in PDP but only aggrieved members.

"We are going to win the election and come 2018, we will still win," he said.

NAN also reports that Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed July 8 for the by-election following the vacuum created by the death of Sen. Adeleke on April 23.