The Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has raised the alarm that he might be killed while seeking redress at the election petition tribunal.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the March 18 gubernatorial election after scoring 276,298 votes.
Adebutu, who polled 262,383 votes, came second in the election.
But, the PDP said INEC made the declaration in error as it failed to take into account the number of cancelled votes, which they said are more than 40,000.
Few days after the election, Adebutu led his supporters in a peaceful protest to the INEC office in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, asking the commission to review the process.
Addressing a Conference of Political Parties in Abeokuta yesterday, April 3, Adebutu said he had been warned to watch out.
He said he had intelligence that he should henceforth, avoid crowded areas, because he might be killed one day.
While saying he does not pray to die, the politician said he is confident that the mandate belongs to the PDP and the people, adding that it would be reclaimed even if he dies.
He said: “I’ve been warned that I should mind myself wherever I go, that I should not go to crowded areas because, maybe one day I will be killed.
“The truth of the matter is that it is a PDP mandate. I don’t pray to die, but it is a PDP mandate and it is the people’s mandate. I am sure it will be easy to reclaim even if they kill me.”
Adebutu added, “We are determined; if they want to kill us, it’s okay. They brought killers from Lagos to attack our candidate in Sagamu 2. Luckily, the man escaped through the balcony.”
He condemned “the attacks on PDP members in Ogun,” especially in Remo axis of the State, charging security agencies to stop turning blind eyes to the attacks on his supporters.
He charged Ogun people not to allow anybody to make them prisoners in their own towns and villages, stating that “we are all Nigerians.”
“If you continue to allow them to abuse your rights unabridged, you will become their prisoner. You must resist the abuses. I will not become a prisoner in Nigeria.
“They want to compel you to start hiding at home. I am not going to do that. I’m going to go everywhere,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PDP candidate said the party has approached the tribunal to seek redress, expressing confidence that he would win at the tribunal.