- The inside story of how the name of former councilor; Odunsi, may stall LGA inauguration in Ajegunle
The underbelly politicking that smeared the authority of the ruling class and produced a parallel group in the build-up to state and local executives for the All Progressives Congress {APC}, in Lagos State during the last quarter of 2021, has reared its ugly head with stakeholders’ warming-up for a showdown at the APC Primaries in May. And now that the lacuna which established an unsolicited ‘New World Order among the Parallel group in AJIF APC, continues to taunt the collective interest of the party in Ajegunle, the leg of the corpse buried in Abuja last year is now in the open, and it may stall the APC Primaries in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government, once the legitimacy of Alhaji Odunsi’s name remains unchanged, write Fakunle Sheriff Ekundayo
The proposed All Progressives Congress {APC}, Primaries starting from May 13, 2022, has begun to brew some fundamental flaws, in the management of the electoral process that established the new ward and Local Government Area {LGA}, executives in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area.
The unbecoming development which was not peculiar to Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area only in Lagos State may become the spoke in the wheel to the smooth progress of APC Primaries in Ajegunle.
To begin with, there was intense lobbying and interactions among political stakeholders in Ajegunle, prior to the state congress held on Saturday, October 16, 2021, at Mobolaji Johnson stadium {formerly Onikan stadium}, in Lagos-Island. The leadership of Chief Samuel Adeyemi, the LGA party chairman in AJIF LGA, had been in a long battle with another leadership representation in the local government, which does not support the popular decision of the G-16, led by Prince Rabiu Adio Oluwa in Ajegunle.
The resultant effect of this led to a parallel-group, away from the constituted executives recognized in the State by the All Progressives Congress. And while this new development was unsuccessfully proscribed, it gathered momentum and found its way into the Federal structure of the ruling party, making the legitimacy of their agitations unpopularly legitimate!
The name of a former councilor in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area, Alhaji Odunsi emerged as the LGA party chairman in Abuja, thereby complicating the existing order of the status quo in the composition of Ajeroimi-Ifelodun Local Government Area.
The ripple effect of this is the upcoming APC primaries, which from all indications, would adopt Indirect Primaries. And some of the leading questions to conduct would be:
- Who are the recognized and legitimate ward executives?
- Who are the recognized and legitimate LGA executives?
- Which executives; both at ward and LGA is recognized by the APC state executives?
- Which executives are recognized by the national secretariat of APC in Abuja?
Valiant Samson Alaba, a political columnist, states on an online platform that: The Independent National Electoral Commission {INEC} in the new Electoral Act which states the guidelines concerning the recently released party primaries that: ‘Primary election results must be monitored by INEC officials, must be declared immediately at the venue of elections on that day {emphasis mine}.
The political reality of this clearly indicates that the once ‘Go and conduct election but don’t announce result’ is now old-fashioned and non-existent. And such will make elections conducted within the jurisdiction of each constituency and results not announced at the venue would be invalidated!’
This ultra vires that is systematically generated by the parallel group and unintentionally allowed to persist by the leadership structure in AJIF LGA APC may have a herculean task ahead if the administrative papers and modus operandi of the party are not put in proper check before May 13, 2022.
The parallel group that produced Alhaji Odunsi at the national level, may have the leadership of the APC to contend with after it was rumored that the upper-most decision making body of the party, has directed that the parallel group withdraw their agitations and claims on the leadership of the party in the affected LGAs’ and LCDA in Lagos State.
To this end, the shambolic arrangement that was demonstrated by some LGAs’ at airports en route to the APC national convention should not be allowed in the future, especially as the common interest of the party is predominantly on the attainment and realization of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mandate of becoming the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
And while the party will ignore the shenanigans leading up to the establishment of a parallel body and all individuals involved, the party {APC} as a ruling political entity must fumigate the grey areas in her cobwebs and come clean before INEC, starting from May 13, 2022!
Technically, the party may avoid the fundamental flaws of questioning the supremacy of the constitution if it chooses not to embolden the Electoral Act before the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This is made clear from the party directives which state that the controversial section 84 (12) of the Electoral Acts, which directs a government appointee to resign before he or she can aspire is currently under litigation at the High Court. The party {APC} may craftily wield the big stick and direct all prospective aspirants under the platform of elected or appointed status to resign, and get screened through the party machinery, pending verdicts of the High Court.
This is a banana slip on both the aspiring appointee and the party, especially judging from the eventual verdict by the court. And in order to be in a safe spot, the party can stop aspiring appointees from the party primaries, or else, the party forfeit representation, and will be replaced with a fresh candidate, if the appointee is allowed to contest and the court dismisses section 84{12} of the Electoral Act.
In view of these panoramic political speculations, the parallel groups have successfully established themselves as an active player in the game of lobbying and strategic political advantage in the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area, especially with the unprecedented political genocide that nearly marred the existing status quo of the party executives. It will have signaled one of the greatest political heists in a most dramatic fashion if the parallel group had won completely. And judging from the foregoing, it’s 1-1 apiece. The simple parable for the established G-16 led by Prince Rabiu Adio Oluwa is to gird her loins against the impending power tussle inside Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area because the warlord charioteer from Alayabiagba will not blink an eye for mercy in 2025!
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