Kosofe constituents storm Lagos APC secretariat to protest ‘candidate imposition’

Members of the Kosofe constituency in Lagos, on Thursday, stormed the secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to protest “candidate imposition”.

The protesters, who came in buses, blocked the road that passed through Acme road in Ogba, and caused heavy traffic.

They alleged that Rotimi Agunsoye, lawmaker representing the constituency in the house of representatives, was illegally removed by a group in the Lagos APC.

The constituents claimed that no primary was held in the constituency, adding that it was a surprise to them when another candidate was announced as the winner of a parallel primary.

On May 27, Kafilat Ogbara was said to have been elected winner of the APC primary for Kosofe federal constituency with 44 votes.

Speaking on the development on Thursday, Sunday Jegede, chairman of Ikosi-Isheri local council development area (LCDA), said party members waited at the designated venue for the primary, but the exercise was not conducted.

“We are here to tell the whole world that no election was conducted in Kosofe constituency for house of representatives and house of assembly. To our surprise, there are names flying around that there was an election conducted in Kosofe,” Jegede said.

“On the day of election, we were at the designated venue till 4pm, and the electoral people didn’t show up, upon the fact that there was no delegate list made available to any of the aspirants.

“But towards evening, we started seeing video flying online that there was an election, or selection, or meeting at the Ikosi LCDA secretariat, where a name I cannot quickly recollect was selected to represent our interest. I see no reason why this should happen.

“Till now, no election has been conducted in Kosofe LGA. We are asking for a rerun, and they should make available the list of delegates elected from the congress, submitted to the party secretariat.”

On his part, Gbenga Oshobu, a former secretary of Agboyi-Ketu LG, said at no time did the party agree to select a consensus candidate.

“On the day of the primary, we were there, only to hear that the name of a candidate had been written. There was never a time in Kosofe constituency in which there was a consensus or party meeting that some persons have been selected as consensus candidates,” he said.

“Rotimi Agunsoye, the incumbent at the house of representatives, has done well. For him to have attracted 79 projects in Kosofe in seven years, for him to have given N100,000 to 400 people, for him to have trained people and given employment, I don’t think it’s the best way to pay him back. Rotimi has not offended anybody.”

Meanwhile, the development comes days after some APC members in Somolu LG protested against the alleged imposition of Rotimi Olowo, a Lagos lawmaker, by some party stakeholders in the state.

The protestors said Olowo, who has served in the state assembly for 16 years, should allow other members to represent the constituency in 2023.