I haven’t seen result from APC screening committee, says Oluwo, Lagos guber hopeful

Wale Oluwo, a governorship hopeful and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has spoken on his exclusion from the governorship primary.

The former commissioner, who is an associate of Akinwunmi Ambode, former governor of Lagos, in an interview with TheCable, had spoken on his plan to rebuild Lagos.

During the primary which held on Thursday, Ahmed Yuguda, chairman of the electoral committee, had said only Sanwo-Olu was cleared by the party’s screening panel to participate in the exercise.

But reacting to the development in a statement, Oluwo said he is yet to see the result of the screening exercise.

He also alleged that the congresses that produced delegates for the primary were “handpicked”.

“According to the organisers of the event, the eligible ‘delegates’ to vote at the ‘Governorship Primary Election’ are those handpicked by just one of the APC factions in Lagos State through a sham delegates congress purportedly held in the 245 wards of Lagos State on 18th and 19th of May, 2022,” the statement reads.

“The one-sided congress, which excluded all the other aspiring delegates that bought the APC delegates nomination forms, was conducted in gross violation of the APC electoral guidelines, APC Constitution and the Electoral Act. The Lagos State APC State Exco, headed by one pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, is complicit in the exercise of this blatant rape of democracy in APC Lagos.

“We also note that the Screening Committee, which was inaugurated by the APC National Headquarters to screen all Governorship Aspirants in Lagos State, has refused to publish the results of the screening exercise as at the time of this press release.

“The approved Election Guidelines of the APC mandates the Screening Committee to release its results within 24 hours of concluding the screening exercise, so as to give participating aspirants an opportunity to appeal the outcome of the screening at the APC screening appeals committee.

“I cannot understand why the Screening Committee chose not to contact the aspirants screened by them, either by phone call, text message, written letter, or any other means of communication, considering their decision to withhold the results of the screening. This is a serious breach of aspirants’ fundamental rights to fair hearing, as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.”

Oluwo added that he would challenge the outcome of the primary through the resolution mechanisms available in the party, while also not foreclosing the possibility of a court case.

“It is clear that my candidacy in this 2022 APC primary elections has generated massive positive excitement from party members and Lagosians generally. It has also created serious discomfort for those who are afraid of my message of a new agenda and accountability in governance,” he said.

“These discomforted powerful individuals have even gone to great lengths to prevent me from participating in the primary election of today by excluding me in a manner similar to the last Edo State episode where a sitting governor was denied participation in the internal democracy process of his party. The resultant effects of that misadventure still lives with the party till date.

“The extent to which these same individuals have succeeded in their desperate scheming will become apparent when the Screening Committee eventually decides to “release” the results of the screening which is already 12 days in arrears. However, the will of the people will not be subverted.

“I implore my teeming supporters to remain calm and law abiding, despite the provocations. We will continue to seek redress from the internal dispute resolution mechanisms or the party, without foreclosing the enforcement of our rights to seek justice in the court of law.”