High Chief Raymond Dokpesi has said that the corruption charges filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, will not affect his ambition to become the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stating that he is innocent until proven guilty by a competent court.

Dokpesi He said the charges cannot be used by the federal government or the All Progressives Congress, APC, to hoodwink him if he is elected as the chairman of the opposition, PDP. He said this on Sunday during his meeting with delegates from Kwara state at the party's secretariat in Ilorin.

"The case is in court and I don't want to comment on it but I will not join APC or be a stooge because of it. I respect Buhari as the president of Nigeria but what he is doing now is not different from what he did as a military head of state. He locked up Nigerians for 200 years, some 150 years. As the Chief of staff of Gongola state, I was locked up and my charge was that I held political office," he said.

"If you are an hotelier and someone spent three days in your hotel and paid for services rendered but days later, DSS came to arrest you that the money the client paid you was from illegal proceed from CBN... Let me stop there as the judge will decide," he said of his current charges.

On Sheriff, he said governors and other stakeholders are reaching out to him for reconciliation and peace. Meanwhile, the Kwara state PDP chairman, Barrister Akogun Oyedepo, praised Dokpesi and assured him of support, stating that he had set a standard for others to follow. "We have not seen any other candidate that can match your credentials. We will go with you because you are a pioneer. PDP that is almost crumbling needs someone like you.

APC is jittery already because of Dokpesi credentials. We need to return the party to the people and that is what you are doing by meeting delegates. We have heard you and we will make you accountable for your words," he said. Other PDP stakeholders in the state, including Senator Idris Haliru Gunu and Senator Ajadi Makanjuola hailed his determination to lead the party.