Despite announcing his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party, Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke’s name appeared on the ballot paper as 957 delegates commenced voting in the party’s governorship primary on Tuesday in Osogbo, the state capital.

The Secretary of the Primary Election Committee, Sunday Solarin, declared the voting open shortly after the accreditation of delegates ended at about 11:35 a.m. He confirmed that only two aspirants  Adeleke and Adebayo Adedamola were listed for the contest, although Adeleke had publicly withdrawn from the party.

Solarin warned delegates that any votes cast for Adeleke would “eventually amount to waste,” urging them to follow the committee’s instructions while casting their ballots.

According to reports, representatives from the Independent National Electoral Commission and a PDP national committee led by Humphrey Abba had arrived at the Osogbo venue.

The exercise was held under tight security, with operatives of the Department of State Security, police, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps stationed at key points around the premises.

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Proceedings formally began at exactly 11:07 a.m., with delegates checking their names before heading into the voting area.

The process had faced uncertainty prior to commencement, while Theophilus Shan, a factional National Organising Secretary of the PDP, insisted the primary would hold as scheduled, another faction’s National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, had earlier announced that the exercise had been postponed.

Source: Punch