On Tuesday, a large number of All Progressives Congress (APC) members protested at the party’s Lagos State Secretariat in Ikeja, calling for the cancellation of primary election results in multiple constituencies due to purported irregularities.
The protesters, who came from a number of constituencies, including Amuwo-Odofin Federal Constituency, Amuwo-Odofin Constituency II, Ajeromi-Ifelodun Federal Constituency, Oshodi-Isolo Constituency I, and Somolu Constituency II, asked the party leadership to look into grievances related to the recently finished House of Representatives and Lagos State House of Assembly primaries.
The names of the winning candidates were announced after the APC held its legislative primaries in May. Some candidates and party members, however, have persisted in contesting the results, claiming that the published results did not accurately represent the choices made by party members during the direct primary elections.
The demonstrators demanded that the party’s leadership and pertinent appeal panels examine how the elections were conducted and deal with what they called pervasive procedural violations.
Mr. Ayodele Adewale, a House of Representatives candidate for the Amuwo-Odofin Federal Constituency, filed one of the petitions contesting the results of the constituency’s primary election.
Adewale claimed that serious procedural infractions, such as the lack of an official membership register during accreditation, tainted the exercise throughout the constituency’s 11 wards.
Additionally, he asserted that APC slips that were neither officially recognised nor adequately verified were used for accreditation.
The candidate asked the appeal committee to invalidate the election results and conduct a thorough investigation into the accreditation and voting procedures.
In a similar vein, Mr. David Doherty, a House of Assembly candidate for Amuwo-Odofin Constituency II, criticised the exercise’s transparency, claiming that candidates were left out of important decisions made before the election.
Additionally, he asserted that party members were forced to leave polling places after armed individuals disrupted voting in certain riverine communities by firing shots.
Doherty demanded that the results of the constituency be cancelled and that anyone found guilty of electoral violence or misconduct face consequences.
Petitioners in the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Federal Constituency claimed that there were numerous anomalies, such as manipulation of the results, incorrect collation methods, and violations of election regulations.
They claim that certain results were purportedly tampered with and that some electoral officials failed to show up at the designated collation centres.
They also asserted that proper accreditation procedures were not followed and that votes were inflated in certain wards.
The petitioners asked for a forensic examination of contested result sheets and signatures as well as verification of ward-level results.
Prince Hakeem Ola, speaking on behalf of demonstrators from Amuwo-Odofin Constituency II, called Doherty’s alleged treatment “unfair and unacceptable.”
He insisted that party members ought to have the freedom to select their representatives via an open and reliable democratic process.
Ola claimed that although Doherty won the primary, some party leaders were trying to change the results.
Mr. Oluwasola Olugbemi, another demonstrator from Agege Local Government Area, cautioned against what he called attempts to force candidates on party members.
He maintained that disregarding party members’ preferences erodes democratic principles and erodes trust in the electoral process.
Additionally, protesters from Somolu Constituency II and Oshodi-Isolo Constituency I filed petitions claiming attempts to rig their respective primaries.
They urged the party leadership to maintain the outcomes that had already been sent to the APC National Secretariat.
The protesters demanded an open settlement of all disagreements prior to the 2027 general elections, claiming that the legitimacy of the APC’s internal democratic process was in jeopardy.
The demonstrators gathered outside the party secretariat, chanting songs of solidarity and calling for action on their complaints despite the morning’s rain.
The APC’s Lagos State chapter, meanwhile, denied social media rumours that Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, the state chairman, had been harassed during the demonstration.
The party clarified that Ojelabi was not at the secretariat during the protest in a statement released by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mrs. Omobola Akingbehin.
While the party respected members’ constitutional right to voice complaints through legal channels, Akingbehin said that such actions should be done responsibly.
She stated that established internal procedures were already in place to settle disagreements resulting from the exercise and that the primary election process had been completed.
In the interest of harmony, justice, and the APC’s ongoing expansion, the party urged disgruntled candidates and members to use the proper channels.
Additionally, Akingbehin urged the public, stakeholders, and party members to only rely on information disseminated through official party communication platforms and to ignore what she described as false reports.
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