Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State, on Tuesday, staged a protest over the results of last Saturday’s primaries of the party.
The party members, chanting words rejecting the outcome of the primaries during the protest at Oke-koto area of Agege, said the announced results did not reflect the will of APC members in the area.
They said Mr Babatunde Azeez and Mr Abiodun Akinola, announced as chairmanship candidates for Agege LG and Orile-Agege Local Council Development Area (LCDA) respectively, were imposed on party members.
Mr Sabitu Kamorudeen, Chairman of 2023 Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in Agege, who led the protest, said most party members were against the emergence of the candidates for the two council areas
According to him, the two candidates were hand-picked by some party leaders to serve their selfish interests.
“We are here to challenge those using President Bola Tinubu’s name to impose their candidates.
“The results are not only misleading but are a gross misrepresentation of the democratic will of our party members in Agege and Orile-Agege.
“The outcomes are not a reflection of due process but reek of manipulation and abuse of party machinery by entrenched interests,who have hijacked our local politics,” he said.
Speaking, Mr Adetunji Akinyemi, spokesperson, PCC Orile-Agege LCDA, said that members of the APC in the area acknowledge and respect the supremacy of party directives and structures.
According to him, such deference must not be misconstrued as passive endorsement of tyranny or authoritarianism cloaked as leadership.
“We cannot support a scenario where a single individual, wielding inordinate influence, positions himself as the sole arbiter of who rises or falls within the party in Agege.
“That is not party discipline — it is political capture, and it is antithetical to the democratic ethos of our party, the APC. The political climate in Agege and Orile-Agege is uniquely troubling,” he said.
Also, Mr Akeem Ashiru, one of party leaders in the area, urged the state council of APC, political leaders and members of the party’s National Working Committee to act on the matter and check what he called hijack of the party in Agege and Orile Agege.
“This is Lagos and this is Agege, it is not a political estate to be inherited or transferred at will.
“For many of us, Agege is not only our constituency, it is our home. We have no ancestral retreats beyond these communities and so we must insist on justice, fairness and the preservation of peace,” Ashiru said.
Asanat Lawal, a member of the group, said that their allegiance remained with the broader APC.
According to her, party members are committed to the party and second-term bid of President Bola Tinubu, but will not remain silent in the face of oppression.
“We will continue to resist every attempt to destroy our democratic foundation of our local politics and we will defend the rights of our people to be represented by individuals of their choosing not by fiat, coercion or hereditary succession,” she said.
The party has inaugurated an appeal committee to look into alleged malpractices, manipulation and allegations raised by aspirants and delegates that participated in the primaries.
The party advised discontented aspirants to submit their appeals to the committee by noon on Tuesday (May 13).
The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, had fixed July 12 for the local government election in the state.
