Leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Agege and Orile-Agege have roundly debunked and dismissed allegations that chairmanship and councillorship candidates were imposed on the party at the local government primary elections held last Saturday, May 10, at the party secretariat on Acme Road, Ikeja.

Substantive candidates for all 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs) emerged through delegate voting and consensus for the July 12 LG elections.

However, typical of such elections, there is a groundswell of dissent and discontentment in some areas, including Agege and Orile-Agege, where Alhaji Tunde Azeez and Idowu Akinola emerged as chairmanship candidates, leading to claims of candidates’ imposition.

Rising from a meeting at the Agege Local Government Secretariat on Tuesday, the APC leadership in both councils issued a communiqué dismissing the imposition claims and affirming the candidates’ legitimacy.

The communiqué was signed by key party figures, including the member representing Agege 02 Constituency in the House of Assembly, Alhaji Jubril Kareem; House of Representatives member, Hon. Dr. Wale Ahmed; Special Adviser to the Governor on Political, Legislative and Civic Engagement, 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 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; party leader, Elder Sunday Ajide; and former House of Assembly member, Hon. Ashimiu Adebayo.

In the communiqué, the leaders said, “As far as we are concerned, the primary elections were free and fair; and suggestions by some elements that the candidates that emerged were imposed on them are misleading. Those making these false claims are sore losers, and (had) for years, ostracised themselves from the APC and our communities.”

The communiqué read further, “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 came down to Nigeria weeks back for 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.”

The leaders declared further, “In Agege and Orile-Agege, exco 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 is only people with limited education and obscurity of positions that would consider themselves as contenders and not pretenders in the just concluded primaries.”