Members of the State Executive Committee have accused Mr. King Okuneye, the chairman of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), of manipulating the results of the party’s primaries and managing the organisation without proper consultation, causing rifts within the NDC’s Lagos State chapter.
Following an emergency meeting that some state executive members attended, the party’s deputy chairman, Mr. Akinwande Osikominu, made the accusations on Tuesday at a press conference in Ikeja.
Osikominu claimed that the chairman had routinely excluded other party leaders from important decision-making procedures, which he claimed had exacerbated internal strife and eroded trust in the party’s leadership.
He claims that during the recent primaries, tensions within the party reached a breaking point.
He asserted that until the collation phase of the exercise, members of the State Executive Committee were ignorant of the existence of a separate election committee purportedly formed by the party’s national leadership.
Most embarrassingly, the National Body failed to notify the State Exco of the creation of any parallel election committee. It wasn’t until collation that we discovered its existence.
“The entire Executive Committee was sidelined by this level of secrecy and exclusion, leaving us humiliated and eroding trust in the leadership,” he stated.
The deputy chairman also charged Okuneye with unilaterally manipulating election reports and results and ignoring decisions made by party leaders as a group.
“The Chairman is accused of unilaterally changing election results and reports that were previously decided upon through cooperative procedures.
According to Osikominu, “this breach has further fractured internal cohesion and deepened the sense of exclusion felt by the State Exco.”
He cautioned that if immediate action was not taken to resolve the unresolved issues, the party’s performance in upcoming elections could be negatively impacted.
Osikominu also voiced concern about the chairman’s alleged extended absence from Lagos State, contending that effective leadership necessitates ongoing interaction with grassroots members and party structures.
For a number of years, King Okuneye has lived outside of Lagos State. His ability to comprehend and react to the particular dynamics, opportunities, and challenges in Lagos has been severely hampered by this extended physical absence.
“The resulting leadership vacuum threatens the party’s overall viability in the state and continues to weaken grassroots coordination,” he stated.
The deputy chairman further claimed that confusion and conflicting claims to leadership positions in multiple councils resulted from the chairman’s improper creation and publication of an authentic list of local government executives.
Additionally, he expressed dissatisfaction with the way party funds were managed, claiming that they were being transferred into personal accounts without sufficient accountability or transparency.
Numerous candidates have consistently and credibly complained about outrageous demands for money to sway results, obtain favourable reports, or obtain access to party procedures.
“Party funds are routinely transferred, with no disclosure, audits, or accountability, into the Chairman’s personal accounts and other unofficial channels.
“Since inauguration, the state treasurer has been rendered completely redundant, with no visibility into inflows or outflows,” he asserted.
Additionally, Osikominu claimed that the party secretariat had been mainly abandoned and that many official events were being held in business centres, hotels, and lounges rather than the official party office.
In spite of the complaints, he reiterated the executive members’ allegiance to the party’s national leadership and urged the National Executive Committee to look into the claims and bring accountability, openness, and inclusivity back to the Lagos chapter.
An anonymous source close to the chairman responded to the accusations by calling them baseless and politically motivated.
The source insisted that Okuneye had done a good job as chairman and refuted claims of financial misconduct, result manipulation, and arrogance.
“Every accusation is unfounded. The chairman has been actively carrying out his responsibilities. Everything that has been said about manipulating results, being arrogant, and diverting funds is untrue.
This is the result of things not getting in the way of people. Party members disagreed with their wishes for specific candidates to win the primaries. They’re just losers.
According to the source, “they are a bunch of selfish, disloyal people who are bent on creating unnecessary problems in the party.”
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