The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the senator representing Ogun East, Senator Kashamu Buruji as a desperate paid agent of anti-democratic forces working to cause confusion, trigger violence and bloodletting in the 2019 general election and derail its hard-earned democracy.

In a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, described “Senator Buruji is an interloper and impostor, who would soon face prosecution for printing and selling fake PDP nomination forms to members of the public, in violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act and the PDP constitution, which vest such powers only on the party’s National Working Committee”.

According to the statement, made available via his twitter handle, “Senator Buruji would also face the law for conducting phony governorship primary in Ogun state, with the name and colours of the PDP, an activity which only the National Working Committee has the powers to conduct and which it had done after which it submitted the name of then PDP Ogun governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the stipulated time” the party added.

It is instructive to note that under the Electoral Act and the PDP constitution, only the National Working Committee, and no other organ of the party at the national or state level, is empowered to submit a governorship candidate to INEC.

The party states that “This function has been duly carried out by the PDP national leadership, under the Chairmanship of Prince Uche Secondus, upon which strength he handed Ladi Adebutu, our party’s official flag”.

The party added that “Apparently in the desperation to pacify his paymasters and benefactors, Senator Buruji, in violation of the law, has been going around, causing confusion, parading himself as the candidate of our party, even when he did not stand for our primaries, and threatening our leaders, particularly, Prince Uche Secondus, with violence, as he even alluded in his press statement of December 9, 2018, for giving our flag to our candidate, Ladi Adebutu”.

The PDP claimed it had “received reports from very high quarters that Senator Buruji has been under pressure from his benefactors at the Buhari Presidency, who reportedly reached a pact with him to destabilize and distract our party with a promise to let him off the hook on his pending fraud case, for which he is risking imminent extradition from Nigeria”.

The statement added that “Senator Buruji has lost all electoral value and cannot be a march for our governorship candidate, in popularity and acceptance by the people, as darkness has no comparison to the light.

“The PDP, therefore, urges all security agencies and Nigerians in general to note that Senator Buruji is the aggressor and directly hold him responsible for any breakdown of law and order, since he has given a hint into such inclination by his violent outbursts and threats.

“For us in the PDP, our candidate, Ladi Adebutu, is already coasting to victory with the people and there is nothing the Buhari Presidency can do to stop him” the statement added.

•Sourced from The Vanguard report