The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, screening committee says it has cleared 13 out of 16 aspirants for the Ekiti Governorship election slated for June 21.
Chairman of the committee, Victor Ndoma-Egba, a senator, made this known when he presented the committee’s report to the party leadership in Abuja.
Ndoma-Egba said Bode Olowoporoku, Peter Obafemi and Bosede Dada, were disqualified from contesting the election.
Olowoporoku could not provide evidence of tax clearance certificate and a court judgment overturning his expulsion from the party, Dada had no evidence of payment of membership dues, tax clearance certificate and the West African School Certificate which is the minimum qualification for all aspirants.
Obafemi was disqualified because he had no National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, discharge certificate
“We have evidence before us that Olowoporoku had been expelled from the party, but he said here that he had gone to court and had set aside the expulsion. Unfortunately, the court judgment he sent to us came to us a few minutes before we presented our report. Which means that his option now is to take it to the Appeal Panel and am sure they will look very favourably at that, so all hope is not lost,” the chairman said.
Ndoma-Egba said that aspirants who felt the committee did not meet their aspiration had the opportunity of going to the appeal panel which was set up on Monday.
Those cleared are a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose; retired Navy Captain Oluwadare Bajide, former minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade and Prince Adedayo Adeyeye.
Others are Adeyanju Sunday, Erelu Ogundipe, Abiodun Aluko, Adewale Aribisala, Oladeji Omoyeni, Olubenga Aluko, Oluropo Ogunbolude, Omolara Adubiaro and Ajayi Ayodeji.
The screening committee chairman also stressed the need for a consensus candidate.
“I believe that this is a political process and the aspirants should be talking to themselves. At the end of the day, they should know that they are better off if they worked together; so we urge all of them to subordinate their individual interest for the party’s interest which is to reclaim Ekiti,” he said.
The deputy national chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, who received the report, commended the committee members for a job well done and for a transparent screening process.
Secondus maintained that the party leadership would ensure that justice was done to all party members, adding that the party would carry everybody along at all stages, including the media to educate the public on its activities.
The PDP Ekiti primary is expected to hold on March 15.