Protesters Storm Ogun APC Secretariat Over Delegates List

Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abeokuta South local government of Ogun State on Tuesday protested against the candidates presented at the party secretariat.

The peaceful protest saw members of the APC from the local government storm the secretariat to protest the removal of their names from the delegate list ahead of the party’s primary elections.

Carrying placards with various inscriptions, the protesters stated that they were rejecting imposition of delegates.

"We opt for an open congress. We say no to imposition of delegates. Dialogue is a language in politics.”

The party members, drawn from Wards 5, 8 and 15 in Abeokuta South, lamented that they were sidelined in the list of delegates by the party executive led by the local government chairman, Henry Fagbenro.

The plot, according to them, was to allegedly give some aspirants a soft landing in the primaries.

Speaking on behalf of the aggrieved party members, Sharafadeen Ogunwolu, called on the state executive of the APC to wade into the removal of members of the party the delegate list in Ward 5, 8 and 15 ahead of the primaries to produce legislative candidates of the party.

"If there is no dialogue, there is no primary election with the substituted members of the party by Hon. Fagbenro and his executive.”

In his defence, Fagbenro who denied substituting members’ names on the list of delegates added that the allegations lacked merits.

Fagbenro explained that Governor Dapo Abiodun, through the state party Chairman, Yemi Sanusi, directed that leaders of the 15 wards should be allowed to select five delegates from each ward for onward submission to the party secretariat.

“If these people want to fight then they should face their ward leaders who nominated five names of members to make the delegate list.

"We want calm and I urge all aggrieved members to embrace peace and dialogue."