APC Vows To Win Lagos East Polls, Mum On Disqualification Case

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State on Saturday said that what happened in Edo State cannot repeat itself in Lagos, vowing that it would not lose the forthcoming Lagos East bye-elections.

The State Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Seye Oladejo, said in a statement in Lagos also debunked claims that the candidate of the party for the Lagos East Senate seat, Mr. Tunde Abiru does not a have structure as he affirmed that the party’s structure would deliver him.

Oladejo’s statement, however, did not address the subject of the court action by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP which has gone to court to disqualify Abiru on the claim that the APC candidate was not properly registered as a voter in Lagos East.

According to him, the fact that the party flag-bearers emerged from consensus and not by selection or imposition during the primary, is a testament to the unity and strength of the party.

Oladejo said: “The APC constitution allows us to have a candidate either by consensus or an open primary. The question to ask is if a particular system is working, why do you want to break it?

“The consensus option was to the extent that the aspirants from their own free will, not by compulsion, were able to arrive at a consensus.

“That a particular person should fly the party’s flag and we had an affirmation thereafter where close to 120,000 people came out to ratify that in form of the primary.

“As we speak, we found all the would-be aspirants there working and mobilising for Tokunbo Abiru, our senatorial candidate.

“It shows understanding and discipline in the party and that’s why after the primary, we are not having a situation whereby we will be doing reconciliation and trying to pacify people here and there.”

He said that the party also had a structure of winning elections since 1999.

“We are talking about a party that has been calling the shots since the advent of democracy in 1999.

“The party has viable structures in every nooks and crannies of this state. That ticket is about the party because Tokunbo Abiru is not an independent candidate.

“So, it is not right to say that he doesn’t have a structure, it is about the party, he is carrying the party flag.

“Since his emergence as a candidate, he has become the baby and business of the party and we are going to, by God’s grace, ensure he wins the election,” he added.

Speaking on APC’s defeat in Edo, the spokesman ruled out the possibility of defeat for his party in Lagos, saying that the circumstances and scenarios were different.

“There is no way APC will lose that seat, we are also not mindful of the fact that they (oppositions) are trying to mobilise forces within and outside the state to come work for the PDP candidate; that will make the victory very sweet.

“We know what played out in Edo State and that will not happen here; it was a case of APC scoring an own goal and that will not happen here.

“When it comes to coming bye-elections, we are not losing sleep, you can see the impacts of the campaign.
” You can see that we are not taking things for granted, you can see that we are confident but not complacent,” he said.

The spokesman said that Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu had been able to surpass the expectations of the majority of Lagosians in the past one year in words and actions.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that APC has fielded Mr Tokunbo Abiru and Mr Femi Saheed as its candidates for Lagos East Senatorial District and Kosofe state constituency II, respectively, in the forthcoming poll.

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