Revolt In Lagos APC Over Imposition

Crisis is brewing within the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress ahead of the July 12 local government elections, as many chairmanship aspirants and party leaders have kicked against what they described as a plot to impose candidates. The aggrieved members and leaders, drawn from various local government areas and local council development areas, accused key figures within the party of attempting to sideline grassroots democracy by handpicking candidates rather than allowing a level playing field.

The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission had, in April, released the timetable and guidelines for the commencement of the electoral process for the 57 council chairmanship seats and 376 councillorship positions spread across the state’s 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs. The announcement came as the tenure of the current local council officials is set to end in July.

The situation is said to have led to protests in some local councils, with party members alleging subversion of the democratic process.

In Ojokoro LCDA, a group of party leaders, under the auspices of Ojokoro Apex Council, reportedly screened three chairmanship aspirants, out of which one Mobolaji Sanusi, emerged as the consensus candidate. Sanusi’s emergence was announced in a letter signed by former members of the House of Representatives, Ipoola Omisore and Adisa Owolabi, and addressed to the state APC chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi.

Attached to the letter was the signature page of the consensus resolution, showing the names of the party leaders and their signatures.

Protests also erupted in Yaba LCDA over an alleged plot to impose one Babatunde Ojo as the chairmanship candidate of the party. A coalition of concerned landlords, electorates, and political stakeholders in the LCDA raised the alarm over a plot to replace the name of the aspirant who emerged top during the screening exercise with that of Ojo.

The coalition, led by Amoo Ismail, petitioned the First Lady, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, urging her and the President to intervene and prevent what they described as a repeat of past political imposition that hindered development in the area.

An aide to one of the aspirants, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused the party leaders in the LCDA of using the name of President Bola Tinubu to justify the imposition of candidates.

Lamenting the adoption of the consensus method, Opeyemi Ahmed, the media aide to the outgoing Chairman of Agboyi-Ketu LCDA, Dele Osinowo, accused some party leaders of imposition by single-handedly picking their preferred candidates.

Speaking on the issue, a chieftain of the party, Fouad Oki, issued a stern warning to party leaders, urging them to embrace internal democracy or risk electoral backlash. He issued the warning in an open letter titled, “Lagos APC’s crisis of Democracy: Internal strife and the risk to President Tinubu’s stronghold”.

“The Lagos APC must choose democracy over cliques. If party managers still believe they know better than voters, permit me to remind you of the stakes: disenfranchised grassroots can sabotage not only council polls, but also general elections to come. Unity forged under injustice is brittle; lasting strength requires inclusivity,” he warned.

He added that the APC could either learn from previous political missteps and legal precedents in Lagos or repeat them and suffer the consequences. He noted that consensus had always worked for the party and helped manage post-primary fallout.

Oladejo said, “We have not concluded the process of the primaries, which will be held on Saturday. For those who have been able to reach consensus, there will be affirmation, but for those who have not reached consensus, their delegates will decide who their preferred candidates will be in their respective local governments.

“If we have not concluded the process, nobody can allege imposition. Then, where there is consensus, their leaders will need to sign off to indicate that they all agreed on a particular candidate. And when an aspirant is not happy, he can insist on going to the primary and, if he wins, good luck.

Speaking on the reason for the party adopting consensus, he said, “As a party, we see ourselves as members of the same family. Consensus has always been easier to manage, whatever fallout might arise from the process of electing candidates for elections. So, consensus, over time, has worked for us and is recognised by our constitution.

“We have an internal mechanism for resolving conflicts or disagreements, and that machinery will be ignited to resolve whatever grey areas arise as a fallout of the primaries. I can assure you that we will take care of it as we have always done.”