Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Agege and Orile-Agege have dismissed allegations that chairmanship and councillorship candidates for the upcoming Lagos council elections were imposed on the party.
The clarification followed growing controversies over the APC primaries held on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at the party’s state secretariat.
The primaries, which covered all 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs), produced candidates through delegate voting and consensus.
However, some of the announced results, excluding those for Yaba LCDA and Mainland LCDA, have been mired in disputes over alleged imposition and manipulation in favour of preferred aspirants.
Agege and Orile-Agege, where Alhaji Tunde Azeez and Idowu Akinola emerged as chairmanship candidates, have not been exempted from such claims.
In response, the APC leadership in both councils issued a communiqué on Tuesday after a meeting at the Agege Local Government Secretariat, rejecting the imposition narrative and affirming the legitimacy of the candidates.
The communiqué was signed by key party figures including Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashir Obasa; state lawmaker for Agege 02, Alhaji Jubril Kareem; House of Representatives member, Hon. Dr. Wale Ahmed; Special Adviser to the Governor, Hon. Afolabi Tajudeen; Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Hon. Afolabi Ayantayo; APC apex leader, Alhaji Safari Adaranijo; and the first executive chairman of Agege LG, Alhaji Genius Owolabi Dada.
Others are: Executive Chairman AGEGE LG, High Chief Ganiu Kola Egunjobi, Executive Chairman Orile-Agege LCDA, Hon Sunday Johnson Babatunde,
Ex-Chairman, LAHASCOM, Hon. Richard Akin Osungboye, Former APC Party chairman, Alhaji Ayoni Shittu, APC AGEGE LG Chairman, Alhaji Tunde Azeez, APC ORILE-AGEGE LG Chairman, Hon. Salau Olaniyi, Former council Chairman and former Member House of Assembly, Hon. Rotimi Adeshina, APC LEADER, Elder Sunday Ajide and Former House of Assembly member, Hon. Ashimiu Adebayo.
The leaders in their statement said those faulting the process that led to the emergence of APC candidates for the chairmanship and councillorship in all the 13 wards abandoned the party and the communities long ago.
“As far as we are concerned, the primary elections were free and fair; and suggestion by some elements that the candidates that emerged were imposed on them is misleading.
“Those making this false claims are sore losers; and for years ostracised themselves from APC and our communities.
“To put it in context, the likes of MD of Nigerian Railway Corporation, Kayode Opeifa, ex-House of Representatives member, Dr Samuel Adejare, and three-time House of Assembly member, Oluyinka Ogundimu have moved out of Agege for years in terms of residence and are not involved in the activities of the party in both councils.
“In the same boat is Biodun Ogunji, a chairmanship aspirant in Agege who lives in the UK with his family but weeks back came down to Nigeria for the purpose of his aspiration.
“Same thing with his fellow-failed aspirant, Bukola Sofidiya, aka Gidado, a US-based Agege politician and Sola Osolana who is based in the UK and was the chairmanship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Agege in the last council election in the state.
“It is a general knowledge that the leadership of the party in the state in their wisdom adopted consensus or delegate voting for the primaries with party local government excos as the voters.
“In Agege and Orile-Agege, excos members were constituted about four years ago when the aforementioned persons distanced themselves from the party in both council areas and its activities; as well as stayed away from our dear communities.
“In that context, it’s only people with limited education and obscurity of positions that would consider themselves as contenders and not pretenders in the just concluded primaries,” the Comminique partly read.
Leave a Reply