Lagos APC congress: Group faults GAC over adoption of consensus candidates

Lagos4Lagos, a political group affiliated with the All Progressives Congress in Lagos, has condemned the directive by Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision-making body of the party in the state, on the party’s forthcoming ward congress.

The GAC had on Wednesday directed all its party officials in the state to adopt consensus candidates for its ward congress scheduled for Saturday, July 31.

Tajudeen Olusi, while addressing journalists on behalf of the GAC members after the council meeting held in Lagos, said party officers at all levels had been directed to engage in dialogue that would lead to meaningful reconciliation of those in disagreements.

But speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, leader of Lagos4Lagos, said although the directive is not alien to the state’s political activities, the body that gave it is illegal and not recognised.

He said GAC is not recognised by the party’s constitution and as such the body is not in the right position to call for consensus in the selection of the party’s ward executives.

Adediran also said that for such decision to stand, diverse interest groups within the ruling party must be consulted and a resolution must be reached.

“Unfortunately, we are shocked to hear from a group yesterday not known to the constitution of our party, not also known to the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, giving directive to members of the party as against the guidelines of the party at the national level.

“If the name of the group is anything to go by, which is Governor’s Advisory Council, we believe sincerely that it should be a group that should be providing advice to the governor of the state.

“They should leave the party affairs to the party to talk to us, if such a directive had come from the caretaker chairman of the state, not even minding his integrity deficit, we would have considered it, but this group took a group picture and gave a directive that members should meet at an appointed time and do consensus, that is not how it is done.

“We have an electoral committee that will come from Abuja to come conduct this congress, it is the duty of the committee, to look at what we have in the state, and see how one or two worrying factions can come together if we want to do consensus.

“For us in the Lagos4Lagos if we feel that we are not comfortable with whatever sharing formula that will bring about this consensus, we have the backing of the law and the constitution of the party not to go to the field to do this. This is what we are reacting to.

“We are not part of the meeting called at 2pm because the body that called that meeting is not known to us and we can’t take directive from such body.

“Our party does not have anything like the highest decision making body in the state. The highest decision making body in our party is NEC, where this is coming from we don’t know, we can’t take directive from any GAC.

Adediran also accused Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos governor, of hijacking the 14, ooo nomination forms for the ward congress and the 5,000 forms meant for the delegates across the state.

He said members of the party that have paid for the nomination forms are yet to receive them, noting that one Adedapo Babatunde, the head of the three-man committee in charge of the forms sales, confirmed that the forms are already with the state government.

“The state government hijacked the forms, they are still at the governor’s office as we speak,” he said.

“Our members across the state have gone to pay for forms and here we have copies of all our tellers that we have paid, waiting to be given the forms, but when calls was put through to Adedapo, the head of the three-man committee sent from Abuja to be in charge of the sales of the form, he always find excuse basically trying to excuse himself from the activity and demand for extra time.”

Meanwhile, when TheCable contacted Babatunde, he discarded Adediran’s accusation, stressing that the nomination forms will be available for sale on Friday, at the party secretariat in Ogba, Lagos.