Crisis Erupts In Lagos APC Over Alleged Plot To Impose Candidates For July 12 Elections

A brewing crisis within the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has led to tensions ahead of the upcoming July 12 local government elections, with many chairmanship aspirants and party leaders expressing dissatisfaction over alleged attempts to impose candidates.

The protests, which have been gaining momentum across various local government areas (LGAs) and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), come as key figures in the party are accused of undermining grassroots democracy.

The aggrieved members have condemned the party’s leadership for allegedly handpicking candidates rather than allowing a free and fair contest.

The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) released the timetable and guidelines for the July 12 elections, which will see chairmanship candidates vying for 57 seats across the state’s 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs.

As the tenure of current council officials comes to an end, the party has pushed for consensus candidates to be selected for the party’s upcoming council primaries scheduled for Saturday.

However, this move has sparked outrage among some aspirants and party members, according to reports from Saturday PUNCH, party leaders in various LGAs formed internal committees to streamline aspirants and propose consensus candidates.

Many members are accusing these committees of using the process as a guise for imposing preferred candidates, rather than allowing a level playing field.

The dissatisfaction has led to protests in various parts of the state, where members have voiced concerns over what they view as subversion of the democratic process.

These protests have intensified in several LGAs, with allegations that the process is being manipulated to favour specific candidates.

One of the areas most affected by the alleged imposition of candidates is Ojokoro LCDA, where party leaders under the Ojokoro Apex Council reportedly screened three chairmanship aspirants.

The screening process resulted in Mobolaji Sanusi emerging as the consensus candidate. A letter signed by former House of Representatives members Ipoola Omisore and Adisa Owolabi, and addressed to the state APC chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi, confirmed Sanusi’s emergence.

However, shortly after this announcement, a second group of party leaders conducted their own screening and declared Rosiji Yemisi as a chairmanship candidate, causing confusion and further discontent within the local council.

A source from the group who spoke with Punch disclosed that those who supported Yemisi’s emergence claimed that there were attempts to impose a candidate “backed by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudasiru Obasa.”

The source argued that imposing an outsider with no electoral history in Ojokoro would lead to disastrous consequences for the party and its prospects in the area.

The controversy has also spilt over to Yaba LCDA, where protests erupted over an alleged plot to impose Babatunde Ojo as the party’s chairmanship candidate.

According to the coalition of concerned landlords, electorates, and political stakeholders, the name of the actual top scorer from the screening exercise was being replaced by Ojo’s name, despite Ojo’s low score of 65%, which placed him 11th out of the 14 aspirants.

William Babatunde, who scored 85%, was the top contender in the screening, but concerns arose when his name was allegedly substituted with that of Ojo, who had received far fewer votes.

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

The petition also called on President Bola Tinubu to take action to ensure a fair and transparent selection process.

“It is important to emphasise that we have credible leaders within our community who are capable of selecting the most qualified candidate from the broad pool of aspirants. It is simply unjust and disheartening to the political stakeholders in the local government that a single individual continues to unilaterally impose a chairmanship candidate upon us.

“In light of this, we humbly implore Your Excellency, and His Excellency the President, to kindly intervene and consider alternative options that will better serve the interests of our community.

“A more inclusive and consultative approach, one that values the voices of grassroots mobilisers and other key stakeholders, will likely yield a more favourable outcome for both the local government and our great party,” the coalition said.

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

“They are going around telling us that the President has given the directive on who should emerge. This is false and disrespectful to the President, who is known to support internal democracy,” he said.

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.

Ahmed, in a now-deleted post on Facebook, said the situation, if not checked, might cost Tinubu his re-election bid.

“The party is not sincere with its guidelines; from direct to indirect to consensus. We can do better. Let’s give a sense of belonging to everyone. Tinubu needs to win Lagos, but if a few are writing names at the top and using fake strategy to call for consensus at the bottom, then Tinubu should be ready to lose come 2027,” Ahmed said.

Speaking on the issue, a party chieftain, 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.

“Let this op-ed be a rallying cry within the party: abandon the politics of imposition, honour the rights of members, and give Lagosians a real voice. Failing that, our party risks losing Lagos not to an opposition challenger, but to its own internal discord – a disaster that would echo all the way to 2027,” Oki concluded.

Reacting to the allegations, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos, Seye Oladejo, dismissed claims of imposition, insisting that the party had not concluded its primary processes and that consensus remained a legitimate and constitutionally recognised mechanism.

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.

“Nobody is imposing anything on anybody; we cherish internal democracy in our party, and we have always strived on all of this. So, you cannot allege an imposition, even when the process has not been completed.”

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.”