The All Progressives Congress (APC) is grappling with internal unrest in Lagos State as stakeholders in Somolu and Yaba Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) demand urgent reforms over what they call undemocratic practices in the party’s chairmanship selection process.
In Somolu, tension flared after Bowale Sosimi — a grassroots politician and loyal party member — was reportedly dropped at the last minute despite earlier being endorsed as the consensus candidate. Party loyalists and stakeholders accused the local party leadership of manipulating the process, describing it as a repeat of the 2017 incident when Sosimi’s name was similarly removed.
They also alleged that an APC election coordinator in the state, said to be a close ally of President Bola Tinubu, played a role in undermining Sosimi’s candidacy, allegedly using religious sentiments to justify the imposition of a different aspirant.
Meanwhile, in Yaba LCDA, leaders and stakeholders have formally petitioned the APC Electoral Committee, chaired by Babatunde Ogala, to demand a fresh chairmanship primary. The group, comprising representatives from all nine wards, criticised the purported handpicking of a candidate without due process.
Describing the development as “undemocratic, provocative, and a direct affront to the will of the people,” the petitioners warned that such impositions could spark internal divisions and damage the party’s credibility ahead of the council polls.
They urged the party’s national leadership and President Tinubu to intervene and halt what they called “external imposition,” warning that failure to act could have far-reaching consequences on the APC’s unity and future electoral prospects in Lagos State.
