LAGOS GUBER RACE: APC ASPIRANTS DECRY IMPOSITION SCHEME, DEMAND DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

Asiwaju Tinubu

Numerous aspirants for the Lagos State governorship on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) say they are opposed to a primary scheduled this Thursday for choosing the party’s candidate. They described the primary as a ruse orchestrated by former Governor Bola Tinubu to impose his candidate, warning that they were prepared to resist the scheme.

The party’s governorship primary election for Lagos State is scheduled for Thursday, but 12 APC aspirants met on Monday in Lagos and demanded a halt to it. Instead, they have called for either a consensus arrangement or the election of delegates who will then constitute an electoral college to vote on December 4.

Two inside sources disclosed that the 12 aspirants met in Ikoyi on Monday after collecting their certificates of clearance to contest the election. At their meeting, the aspirants decided to send a letter to the leadership of the APC demanding an urgent meeting no later than Tuesday December 2.

One of the aspirants, who attended the meeting, described Thursday's primary election as a sham in the making, adding that it should not be allowed to take place.

“We all met and decided to inform the leadership of our party to schedule an urgent meeting for Tuesday evening where we will tell them why the governorship primary election should not hold in Lagos on Thursday,” said the source. He added: “At the meeting, only Akinwumi Ambode was absent. After collecting his clearance certificate, he disappeared. We tried all we could to ensure that he participated in the meeting, but our efforts were in vain.”

According to another source at the meeting, “we agreed on the modality for the primary election and decided that it is either we work out a consensus arrangement or our party obeys the stipulations of the constitution by conducting a delegates' election.”

He warned: “A faulty primary election will only endanger our party; if the APC does not do the right thing, then expect a boycott of Thursday's election.”

The sources disclosed that some of them had received summons based on a lawsuit filed by two APC members, Olorunfemi Olayinka Oluwatosin and Dada Olusegun Joseph, at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

“The case they filed is against the APC, INEC and the 13 governorship aspirants of the party in Lagos State. The plaintiffs are seeking the court's injunction to stop the primary election from holding as the party allegedly conducted a faulty congress earlier in April, while it is also yet to conduct ‘the election leading to the primary election,’” one of our sources revealed.

Several of the disaffected candidates noted that their party would make a mockery of itself if it continued to disregard transparent democratic ethos.