Senatorial primary election for the Ife East (Ife-Ijesa) Senatorial District has been postponed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to a party source, the primaries were postponed due to a bitter feud between Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi’s and Gbenga Onigbogi’s camps in the party’s Ife East Senatorial District.
The incumbent Senator, Fadahunsi, was reportedly coasting to victory at the Ile-Ife venue of the senatorial primary election when trouble broke out.
“Trouble began when former Osun State PDP caretaker Chairman, Hon Sunday Bisi, and Diran Odeyemi, accompanied by Onigbogi, entered the election grounds.” To scare the delegates away, the thugs in their entourage began firing gun shots.
“Onigbogi unexpectedly entered the hall, sensing his electoral defeat and claiming that the gunshot from his entourage had scared away all of his delegates.”
They also claimed that the electoral officer declared the election indefinitely postponed due to the chaotic scenes at the primary election site.
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According to the source, Sunday Bisi, who made several calls in front of all the contestants, ordered the postponement.
“Moreover, the three candidates, Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi, Prince Mayowa Aluko, and Chief Gbenga Onigbogi, as well as security agents, INEC officers, and party leaders, met briefly before the postponement, with Senator Francis and Prince Mayowa Aluko agreeing that the election should go on.”
“Hon Gbenga Onigbogi and Sunday Bisi were adamant about the delay.”
“To our dismay, the electoral umpire adjourned the election indefinitely for no apparent reason,” the source said.
Senator Fadahunsi and his supporters, according to a source in Onigbogi’s camp, were responsible for the violence.
Senator Fadahunsi was urged to remain calm and submit to the party’s democratic principles.
“Fadahunsi should realise that the new laws governing the conduct of party primaries are unlike anything he’s ever seen before. The delegates are difficult to push through the gun and machete barrels.
“As it is, the good people of Osun East, particularly the party’s delegates, have decided to embrace Hon Gbenga Onigbogi as their face this time around at the 10th Assembly,” he claimed.
The Osun State Police Command also confirmed that its officers recovered dangerous weapons from some political thugs on Monday at the Ile-Ife venue of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Osun East Senatorial primaries (PDP).
The weapons, which included a gun, axes, and other items, were recovered, according to Yemisi Opalola, a police public relations officer.
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“One of the senior police officers on the scene noticed a man chasing another partygoer with dangerous weapons, so he chased him down and recovered a bag he was carrying.”
“A gun, axes, and other dangerous weapons” were discovered inside the bag, according to Opalola.
During the violence, Mr Martins, the Divisional Police Officer, A Division, Ilesa, was also assaulted.
