LG POLL: Questions trail Lagos APC’s “medicine after death” reconciliation

By KEMI KASUMU

“This marginalisation of the indigenes continues to raise a troubling question about whether Lagos State has indeed been captured and has become a “No Man’s Land” under the APC leadership.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State Chapter, on Tuesday June 3, 2025 announced the setting up of a reconciliation committee ahead of July 12, 2025 Local Government Elections in the state, to resolve conflicts that trailed the primary election it conducted for picking its chairmanship and councillorship candidates across the state for the exercise.

It said the purpose is especially to meet with aggrieved members and address their dissatisfaction against the exercise that many described as a tool used to disenfranchise indigenes, largely, from enjoying their constitutional rights to nomination.

The committee, divided into four including Lagos East Senatorial District, Lagos Central Senatorial District, Lagos West Senatorial District and Lagos West 2 Senatorial District, was given the assignment to address party members’ disagreement with the exercise across three senatorial districts as APC prepares for next month’s elections across the 57 Local Government and Local Council Development Area (LCDAs).

The committee’s inauguration was confirmed to newsmen on Tuesday by the Lagos APC Spokesperson, Seye Oladejo, who disclosed that the members have two weeks to turn in their report.

Oladejo said: “The Lagos East Senatorial is headed by Dr. Lateef Ibirogba. Other members are Saheed Afonja, Sumbo Onitiri and Sade Bakare.

“The Lagos Central Senatorial District is headed by a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Chief (Mrs) Sarah Sosan. Other members are Funso Ologunde, Adedoyin Banjo and Adigun Olalekan.

“The Lagos West 1 Senatorial District is headed by Otunba Bode Oyedele. Other members are Chief Jide Damazio , Alh. Aleshinloye and Comfort Olalere.

“Lagos West 2 Senatorial District is headed by Alh. Mutiu Are. Other members are Hon. Jumoke Okoya, Otunba Kehinde Adeniyi and Adeola Rashidat”, he added.

In the meantime, some eminent personalities indigenous to Lagos State have been speaking on the development describing it as a “medicine after death” reconciliation that is unfair to indigenes.

Expressing his own view, when asked in an interview to react to the development, a trustee of De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (Rtd), asked to know the type of reconciliation after depriving indigenes the right of nomination as aspirants for chairmanship and councillorship of their party in the coming local governments’ elections in the state.

“Which reconciliation is this when indigenes were sidelined and denied nominations and selections for the forthcoming local government elections in July: Except these indigenes who are members of the party are ready for the deceptive strategy of their party , I wish them “BON VOYAGE”.

“The marginisation of indigenous Lagosians is no longer a whispering concern. It is visible at every level.” The conduct of the Lagos State APC in setting up a reconciliation committee amounts to applying deceptive strategy to denying indigenes of inclusive political participation in the APC. This act is ungodly.

“What purpose will the Reconciliation Committee serve when the party policies and political actions have been designed to promote hegemony and imposition of non indigenes over and above the interest of the indigenes of the state. It is no accident that about 70% of successful candidates for the LGA elections share a common trend. They were non indigenes.

“This marginalisation of the indigenes continues to raise a troubling question about whether Lagos State has indeed been captured and has become a “No Man’s Land” under the APC leadership.

“There is a silent purge of the state’s indigenes, excluding them from inclusive participation at the expense of the non-indigenous members of their party.

“The spirit of maximisation is a fundamental issue plaguing the party organisational system in Lagos State. The party must change.

“The role of maximalist leadership in Lagos State APC has often been seen through exercise of political power and authority by a few powerful political elites amongst them are their sons and daughter. A political action often leads to imposition of unqualified candidates: The slogan that carries the maximalist order is “Baba s’ope.”

Another eminent Lagosian, also reacting, said, “APC’s internal selection processes in Lagos are often opaque and heavily influenced by political godfathers. This leads to the imposition of preferred candidates many of whom are not indigenes at the expense of grassroots and qualified indigenous aspirants.it also undermines democratic participation and fuels alienation. This reconciliation is an exercise in futility.”

A yet another prominent stakeholder described the setup of the Reconciliation Committee as a buy-in to find a common ground. He is of the opinion that “a stitch on time saves nine” and that “one cannot afford to go to bed with a spot of naked fire on the roof- top.”

Can this reconciliation lead to replacing the winner candidates with the loser candidates? Only time will tell.