By Abimbola Ogunnaike
The Blue Roof, an event centre located in Sofunde area in the heart of Agege, Lagos State was full to the brim on Tuesday, 13 May, 2025, reports thegazellenews.com
It was an occasion where All Progressive Congress (APC) members under the umbrella of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of Agege and Orile-Agege gathered to address its members and newsmen on the results being circulated from APC local government primaries held on Saturday, 10 May, 2025, which they rejected.
The party members also vowed to challenge and tackle the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, whom they alleged is playing politics of imposition, division and coercion .
According to the aggrieved members, the results being circulated are not only misleading but are gross mis-presentation of democratic will of the members of the party in the two council areas, just as they also added that the outcome of primary election was not a reflection of due process but a culmination of manipulation, exclusion, and abuse of party machinery by entrenched interests who have the political space.
Addressing the mammoth audience, the Chairman of PCC in Agege, Honourable Sabbitu Kamorudeen, said members of the party acknowledge and respect the supremacy of party directives and structures, just as he added that “such deference must not be misconstrued as passive endorsement of tyranny or authourisation cloaked as leadership.”
According to Kamorudeen, the political climate in Agege and Orile-Agege is uniquely troubling for over a decade as a result of orchestrated structure dominated by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt . Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, who has monopolized power.
“We cannot support a scenario where single individual, wielding inordinate influence, positions himself as the sole arbiter of what rises or falls within the party in Agege. That is not party discipline –It is political capture, and it is antithetical to the democratic ethos of our party, the APC.
“He (Obasa) exercises unchecked control over local government executives and ward officers who, by design, form the voting delegation in primaries. This structure, driven by fear, patronage and intimidation, has effectively disenfranchised independent voices and reform-minded aspirants within the party. The implication is clear-any primary process steered under such influence cannot, by any objective measure, produce a fair or credible outcome,” Kamorudeen said.
To buttress its action, the aggrieved APC members alleged that, “many of our aspirants were denied the most basic rights of participation: nomination forms were withheld, endorsements were refused, and in many cases, threats and coercion were deployed to suppress their ambitions. These acts were carried at the behest of Speaker Obasa whose loyalty appears more to his personal empire than to the collective aspirations of APC “
While stating that the consequences of such monopolistic politics are not theoretical, Kamorudeen added that for over 16 years, Obasa ‘s “winners-takes all “ doctrine has poliarised Agege APC, eroded members morale, and stifled the emergence and representation, the local party has become an instrument individual ambition.”
Vowing that they will not be forced out of the party they helped build as APC belongs to all, he urged leaders of the party, most importantly the state Chairman, National Working Committee, Board of Trustees, and other well-meaning stakeholders to act decisively against the actions of Obasa.
“Rt. Hon. Obasa must be called to order. This is Lagos. This is Agege. It is not a political estate to be inherited or transferred at will. For many of us, Agege and Orile-Agege are not just constituencies-they are home. We have no ancestral retreats beyond these communities, and so, we must insist on justice, fairness, and the preservation of peace.
“The people of Agege and Orile Agege have risen in opposition-not out of sentiment-but out of desire to reclaim dignity and restore balance,” the party members said.
While admitting that there are two major blocks within Agege APC-Justice Forum (PCC) and the Obasa Movement, they added that the principle of fairness demands a shared stake in leadership and representations.
“We have no objection to healthy political competition. What we reject- firmly and finally –is the use of party structures to enforce one man selfish agenda and long -term positioning for gubernatorial ambition,” the aggrieved members said.
Pledging their loyalty to the broader APC and with the vision of President Bola Tinubu, whose second term they vowed committed to delivering; Kamorudeen added that loyalty to the party does not mean silence in the face of oppression.
They vowed that, “If Obasa continues on this part of of division, we will have no choice but to initiate calls for his removal from the Lagos State House of Assembly. Leadership must be earned, not imposed. The APC must not become the private property of any one man.”
