A political group within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state, Lagos4Lagos, has laid claim to been in control of the party in the state, saying that it has the numerical strength to take back the party from any group.
The Lead visionary of the group, Olajide Adediran (Jandor), made this claim on Friday during a press briefing on the feedback from the group’s appearance before the Lagos State APC Ward Congress Appeal Committee set up by the Governor, Mai Mai Buni led National Caretaker Committee to air the grievances of aggrieved groups over the conduct of the Ward Congresses held in July 31st.
Adediran said the group had presented its case before the Appeal Committee with concrete evidence to show the alleged high level of impunity exercised by the Tunde Balogun-led Lagos State Caretaker Committee during the ward congresses.
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He added that he expected the appeal committee to be fair, just and transparent in their recommendation, noting that if the committee’s recommendation was not favorable, the group would approach the court for justice.
He stressed that the current struggle was not about personal interest but rather to liberate the state from the grip of an individual, adding that his group was confident of emerging victorious in any election it conducted in Lagos because of its numerical strength.
“The fight is not about personal interest, it is to liberate all of you. You can only give what you have, their days are gone, they are no longer in control in Lagos State,” Adediran said.
The APC chieftain stated that the boycott of the last local government elections by the group’s members exposed the weaknesses of the State Caretaker Committee, adding that Lagos4Lagos has over two million members who could have added numerical value to the votes recorded by the party.
According to him, Lagos4Lagos has the majority in the membership drive of Lagos APC. The boycott of the local government elections by our group exposed the Balogun-led State Caretaker Committee to ridicule with the poor result of 540,000 votes for a party that is in power. We did not participate in the local government elections because we did not believe in the process and so it was obvious that the absence of our 2million members made the party realise the poor results.
“What we are saying is that we are the majority in Lagos APC. We have our elected ward executives list in all the 245 wards in the state submitted to the National body. The Balogun led group, as of yesterday, had yet to compile theirs. This is to show you that we have our members across all boards”.
Responding to questions from journalists, Adediran said that although consensus arrangement was constitutional for the party, the group was not involved before the ward congresses, adding that he was yet to understand why the Balogun led group would be scared of going into election despite being the state caretaker committee.
He stated further that at different venues of the ward congresses, Lagos4Lagos aspirants appeared for affirmation by its members, adding that such did not happen in the case of the Balogun-led group.
Adediran restated the group’s readiness for the coming local government congress on September 4, adding that its aspirants were ready to contend with others.
Also, the two representatives of the group who appeared before the Ibrahim Akaje Appeal Committee, Sunday Ajayi and Segun Aka-Bashorun, separately said they presented as evidence the bank tellers for the purchase of nomination forms of all the aspirants, adding that they informed the committee of their efforts in mobilising people during the party’s membership registration.
“We told them we are the majority based on our 2 million membership drive. We told them that we do not believe in the impunity that has existed in Lagos APC for years. The Balogun-led group has tried its best and has failed.
“From the way the Appeal Committee comported itself yesterday, it shows they want to know the truth and we want them to be fair and just in their recommendations.” Ajayi and Aka Bashorun.
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