Wole Balogun, Ado-Ekiti
Again, a major crisis has rocked Mega Party of Nigeria in Ekiti State as the winner of the May 12 primary of the party, Dr. Sunday Balogun, has filed a suit against the adopted candidate, Chief Adebisi Omoyeni.
In the Originating Summons filed before a Federal High Court, Ado-Ekiti, on Monday, Balogun prayed the court to remove the name of Omoyeni on grounds that he (Omoyeni) did not emerge from the primary conducted by the MPN.
Defendants in the suit are MPN, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Omoyeni and eight others. Balogun said he was in court to challenge the alleged injustice done to him.
The plaintiff averred that the substitution of his name with that of Omoyeni, a former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, violates Section 33 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).
Balogun insisted that Omoyeni was not a member of the MPN at the time he contested and lost the primary to him (Balogun) on May 12.
The plaintiff urged the court to set aside the Terms of Settlement relied upon by the party to hand Omoyeni the ticket he (Balogun) won at the primary.
Balogun further prayed the court to grant a mandatory injunction recognising him as the authentic MPN governorship candidate.
He expressed confidence that he would fly the flag of the MPN at the July 14 governorship poll he believed the court will do justice to his case.
Addressing his supporters after the case was filed, Balogun said he took the action to challenge the alleged injustice meted out to him after he won a keenly contested primary only to be dropped for Omoyeni.
He vowed to follow the case to a logical conclusion to retrieve his mandate saying the sanctity of the votes cast for him by delegates must be protected.
Balogun said he defeated political heavyweights like former Minister of Science and Technology,Dr. Bode Olowoporoku, another former Deputy Governor, Chief Abiodun Aluko to win a primary adjudged to be free, fair and transparent.
He said: “As at 12 midnight on June 14 when I left INEC office in Abuja, my name was yet to be substituted; me and my DG were there foR more than one-and-half weeks and nobody had an idea of when the name of Omoyeni was smuggled in.
“Immediately we notified the court, we notified the Inspector General of Police. At a time in point I arrested the the National Chairman, Hamisu San Turaki and the National Secretary in Abuja and we locked them up.
“The primary was conducted and we passed through all due process.
Intention form was given at cost of N1 million and the nomination form was sold to us at the rate of N5 million.
“I knew when INEC was involved that we were going to have our primary on May 12 and not only that, people were sent from other parts of the country like Ondo State, Jigawa State, Abuja and other places.
“We even went to Abuja to have a peace accord which was supervised by the national headquarters that whoever wins will be supported by others and all of us signed.”