The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, senatorial candidate for Ogun Central, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, has accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ogun State of being afraid to face a fair contest over the omission of Hon. Ladi Adebutu's name from the list published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Obasanjo, who represented Ogun Central between 2007 and 2011, spoke during an interview with The Arena, an Abeokuta-based podcast, where she described the development as a threat to democracy.
She said she initially dismissed rumours about the omission because lists of senatorial and House of Representatives candidates had already been published, but further inquiries raised questions about why Adebutu's name was missing.
"What is it that Honourable Ladi did differently than what we did? And when I asked that question, I have a scientific mind. The answer was, he did the exact same thing, right? That we all did," she said.
"The next question is then why is his name not in the list?"
According to her, investigations suggested that political opponents took steps to influence the situation, which she described as illegal, adding that no satisfactory reason had been given for the omission.
"His name is going to be back (on the list)," she said.
Obasanjo said the issue goes beyond Adebutu or the PDP, warning that allowing political interests to remove candidates through questionable means could set a dangerous precedent.
"If this happens, then a democracy will crash because everybody that is a money bag will go to Abuja and give the neutral institution money to remove anybody they think can beat them," she said.
"And so the idea is that, can one man's desperation to be governor allow us to kill our democracy?"
She said the controversy should be seen as a test of Nigeria's commitment to democratic principles.
"It is not even about Honourable Adebutu, it's not about PDP, it's about the democracy Nigeria runs," she said.
"But every time you keep breaking rules, it eventually leads to the end of that experiment. And you don't know which rule will break it."
Obasanjo dismissed suggestions that the controversy could weaken the PDP's chances in the state, insisting it could instead expose the opposition's fear of a competitive election.
"No. Our people are firm in what they want to do. I believe Honourable Ladi's name will be back," she said.
She expressed confidence that the PDP would perform strongly in Ogun State, citing what she described as the quality of governance under former Governor Gbenga Daniel.
She added that some residents were now looking back at that administration with renewed appreciation.
On her brief stay in the APC, Obasanjo said she had no regrets, explaining that she joined the party in good faith partly because of her relationship with President Bola Tinubu.
"I joined APC in good faith. So I have no regrets," she said.
She, however, criticised the party's handling of its candidate-selection process in Ogun State, arguing that genuine consensus should involve all aspirants and that a party should not expect to win elections after disregarding the interests of its members.
INEC list row: Ogun APC afraid of facing Adebutu – Iyabo Obasanjo