Former Chairman of Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State, Alhaji Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi, and Azeez Oladapo Yusuf have dismissed reports linking their defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Seaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudasiru Obasa.
The duo, who contested the APC tickets for Agege Constituencies I and II respectively, emerged as candidates of the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, on Thursday.
Their defection came after a controversial APC primary in which Egunjobi’s former Vice-Chairman, Gbenga Abiola, was declared the winner of the Agege Constituency I ticket, while Hon. Sakiru Sule Enimakure emerged as the party’s candidate for Constituency II.
Egunjobi and Yusuf, however, insisted that they won the primaries and were denied the tickets despite what they described as a transparent electoral process.
Their emergence as APM candidates subsequently fuelled speculation that Obasa, who is regarded as their political leader, had orchestrated their departure from the APC.
But the two politicians, in a joint statement, firmly rejected the suggestion, insisting that their decision was theirs alone.
They said they were mature politicians, adults and parents capable of taking independent decisions concerning their political careers.
The duo also argued that movement from one political party to another was not unusual in Nigerian politics, noting that prominent politicians had crossed party lines at different times.
They cited former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, who is now Director-General of the governorship campaign of the APC candidate, Obafemi Hamzat, as an example.
According to them, Obanikoro had previously left the ruling party for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and had at some point been critical of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
They therefore questioned why their own decision to leave the APC had become a subject of controversy.
“What is the issue with our decision to leave? Obanikoro once left the party and was even openly critical of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“We did not leave then. We remained, strengthened the party and contributed to its growth. We had never contemplated leaving until we were confronted with what we considered grave injustice,” they said.
Egunjobi and Yusuf said they were particularly disappointed that the APC leadership failed to initiate any meaningful reconciliation effort after the disputed primaries.
They said the party’s leaders were fully aware of their grievances, having received petitions from them after the tickets were allegedly taken from them and handed to other aspirants.
Credit: The Nation
