Barely hours after the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) released its delegate list for the upcoming gubernatorial primary election slated for Saturday, February 8, 2025, a leading aspirant, Mrs. Ogun Funmilaayo Theresa, has launched a blistering public offensive, alleging “appalling and shameful” manipulation of the essential electoral document.
Addressing journalists at her campaign office in the State capital, Ado-Ekiti, Mrs. Ogun, who hails from Orin-Ekiti, accused powerful “spineless men” within the party of deliberately altering the delegate list to thwart her political ambition and sabotage internal democracy.
Mrs. Ogun’s complaint centres on the final list released by the party, which she claims is a fraudulent replacement for the authentic results generated during the ad-hoc congresses held on October 20, 2025.
“I was shocked to discover that even in my own ward, where I am a delegate, my name was completely removed. The same thing happened in several other wards across the state,” Ogun stated.
The aspirant highlighted the presence of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, police, and DSS officers during the original congresses, which were supervised by a panel led by Senator Onyeghi. Despite these meticulous observations, the official list now contains “strange names of people who neither purchased nomination forms nor participated in the process.”
“Before you can participate in a congress, you must obtain a nomination form,” she maintained. “For people who didn’t buy forms to now appear on the list as winners is the height of impunity.”
In a captivating appeal, Mrs. Ogun directly challenged the integrity of the electoral umpire, urging INEC Chairman, Professor Ojo Amupitan, to remain neutral and refuse to lend legitimacy to the compromised process.
“Will INEC choose to be an accomplice in this murder of democracy or prove that it truly wants to uphold democratic principles in Nigeria?” she queried, stressing that the primary will be the Commission’s “true test” of independence.
She acknowledged that while the delegate list is technically an intra-party matter, the party’s undemocratic actions compel INEC to act on its moral duty by boycotting any primary that ignores the certified list that emerged under its observation.
The governorship aspirant attributed the sabotage to her surging popularity at the grassroots level, claiming her opponents are resorting to “underhand tactics” out of fear of a woman taking the top office.
“They are so afraid of me being a woman that they went as far as changing the entire list of my local government, Ido/Osi LGA, and even removed my name from the delegate list of my ward,” she revealed, adding that she lacks the backing of “godfathers” or “smoked dollars” but has the overwhelming support of party faithful.
The allegations were instantly corroborated by Aare Oluyemi Ajanaku, Chairman of the PDP Local Government Chairmen, who described the manipulation as “shameful and worrisome” and confirmed that a petition against the alterations had been previously ignored by the national secretariat.
Mrs. Ogun disclosed that she has already furnished both the INEC and the PDP National Secretariat with Certified True Copies (CTCs) of the authentic results. She vowed that if the party fails to address the issue before the scheduled primary, she will not hesitate to “take legal action” to protect her constitutional right to contest.
“Since the beginning of this democratic era, no woman has ever been elected governor in Nigeria. I am determined to change that narrative through due process. But what they are doing now is an attempt to shut me out. I will not allow it. It is time for all of us to stand for the truth,” Ogun declared.
