Aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos on Tuesday staged another round of protest against the outcome of the party’s May 10 primaries, where candidates were produced for the upcoming July 12 local government elections in the state.
This is as the Appeal Committee of the party remains silent on its report despite attending to over 100 petitions submitted to it by aspirants for chairmanship and councillorship seats from various council areas.
BEYOND AFRICA gathered that the committee was to conclude its work last week, according to the party’s spokesperson in the state, Chief Oluseye Oladejo.
Meanwhile, speculations are that the panel has given its recommendations.
Aggrieved APC members in the Lagos Mainland Local Government Area and Yaba Local Council Development Area trooped out in Lagos on Tuesday to protest for the umpteenth time, the alleged imposition of candidates for the council elections.
Several members also came out in the Agege and Orile Agege areas of the state to voice opposition to the outcome of the APC LG primaries in their constituencies.
A protester, Thaorid Owolabi, decried that, “Despite the appeal panel recommending that no candidate emerged in Lagos Mainland and Yaba, they want to conceal the report and refuse to implement it. But the truth is clear, and we will stand by the truth with all legal means.”
Another protester, Joke Adebanjo, also claimed that some party leaders “want to impose candidates without primaries, without our voice?”
“This is not democracy, this is an insult to the people of Mainland Local Government! We demand a free and fair process, we demand accountability, and we demand leaders who truly serve us, not just themselves!”
Aspirants who participated in the protest also voiced their opposition, accusing the party of disregarding electoral guidelines and assurances given at the appeal panel.
Another member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, for fear of being chastised by the party, said, “We were all told that leaders would emerge either through consensus or indirect election. In Lagos Mainland and Yaba, we don’t have any ward executives because of an ongoing legal case. Thus, we should only have consensus among aspirants if indirect election isn’t possible, but some impostors sent names to the electoral committee and state excos without the aspirants’ consent or election. Yet, the party went ahead to announce those people as winners and candidates.”
In a broadcast note shared, a female aspirant in Lagos Mainland, Kafayat Akinpelu, lamented the exclusion of females in the local government.
She stated, “As the sole female aspirant among 31 for the Executive Chairman position in Lagos Mainland and Yaba LCDA, I’m seeking justice and advocating for women’s inclusion, aligning with our party’s directive.”
In Agege and Orile Agege, the spokesperson for the Presidential Campaign Council, a factional APC group in the areas, Adetunji Akinyemi, said they were not just there to make noise but to proffer a solution.
“These people have moved out this morning. Over 2000 signatures were generated this morning against imposition. What we are saying is that the only lasting solution to political crises in Orile Agege and Agege is for our leaders to come together and agree on a consensus candidate,” Akinyemi said.
“What we are saying is very simple – they should allow our leaders to sit down together and agree on a consensus candidate, that is the only way justice can be reflected in Agege and Orile Agege.”
