Politics
TUNDE Balogun, chairman of the Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress, has declared Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the party’s governorship primary which was earlier nullified today by the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party sent to monitor the elections.
However, Clement Ebri, chairman of the National Working Committee who came to monitor the guber primary in Lagos, declared that the the announcement is fraudulent. He told Realnews on the phone Tuesday night that Balogun could go to prison for such fraudulent act as no primaries held in Lagos. He added that the APC party chairman in Lagos, is not the returning officer for the primary election and as such has no power to announce result of an election which did not hold.
Realnews gathered that after the nullification, some party chieftains in support of Sanwo-Olu including Sunday Dare, Musiliu Obanikoro, Ganiyu Solomon, Jumoke Okoya-Thomas and other aides of Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos state were at Protea Hotel, Alausa to put pressure on the APC NWC members supervising the Lagos State governorship primaries to adopt the results of the fake primaries they conducted today.
Perhaps, this made Balogun to declared that Sanwo-Olu polled 970, 851 votes to defeat incumbent Governor Akinwunmi Ambode with 72,901 votes.
Balogun declared the election free and fair, thanking members of the party for coming out to vote.
Prior to this, the panel led by Clement Ebri, said the primary could not have held because the modality for its conduct was still being ironed out.
But Balogun insisted that the poll held and it was valid.
“It is my pleasure and delight to read the result of the election, conducted all over Lagos State, in all the 245 wards, to the public.
“The results are as follows: Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, recorded 72, 901 votes; Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu had 970, 851 votes. Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the winner of today’s primary election,” Balogun said.
The National Working Committee of the All Progressive Congress sent from Abuja, to monitor the party’s governorship primary in Lagos State has nullified the exercise held across the 20 local government areas of the state on Tuesday.
Ebri, chairman of the committee, who addressed the press around 4.30pm at Protea Hotel, Alausa, said the election could not have held because the committee was still expecting the list of representatives of one of the two aspirants.
The primary is being contested by Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.
Ebri, however, did not mention the camp that defaulted on the modalities for the election.
Realnews reported in the morning that there are signs that the on-going governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress, APC, may suffer some hitches.
Not only that electoral materials were yet to arrive as at the time of filing this report (11:15 am), distribution of ID card, which will enable qualified members to vote were still far from completion as it was being carried out by the party chairman alone.
The situation has prompted a decision that people should vote with their permanent voter cards, PVC, or any other form of identification.
The National Working Committee has just warned the organisers of todays governorship primary election in Lagos to carry all the parties concerned along to avoid rancur and disturbance during and after the primary. They have also warned that all members that any valid identifications for example voters cards, national identity cards, driving license and son should be allowed to vote.
In any case, some local governments have already perfected their plans ahead of the primaries. For instance, in Agege, Mudashiru Obasa, speaker of the House of Assembly, addressed the APC members this morning. He said based on decision of the members in the local government, they will all vote for Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Indeed, the two major aspirants gunning for the APC governorship ticket are Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Ambode is fighting a tough battle to remain in office for another four years. But Sanwo-Olu, who has the backing of Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the national chairman of the party, for the ticket. Hence, Tinubu and other APC leaders in the state have endorsed Sanwo-Olu for the party’s governorship ticket.
Tags: Breaking: Balogun declares Sanwo-Olu winner of Lagos APC Guber Primary
