A Divided House

Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State

An alleged substitution of names of certain candidates by the leadership of the Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress (AC) for the upcoming council elections sparks off huge protests
By Popoola Kunle
What started as the screening of Action Congress (AC) candidates for the upcoming election into the 20 local government and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDs) in Lagos State penultimate week, suddenly turned into protests by members of the party following what they discribed as imposition of candidtes by the party hierachy.
Hundreds of supporters had stormed the party's state secretariat along Acme Road, Ikeja, Lagos to protest the action of the six-man screeming committee led by Jokotola Pelumi, former speaker of the State House of Assembly.
The protesters carried placards and chanted war songs indicating that they were dissatisfied with the handling of the exercise by the Dele Ajomale-led AC in the state. Basically, the screening committee inaugurated recently by Ajomale was alleged to have doctored the original list purportedly put together by a former committee, under the leadership of Olaitan Musstapha, a former lawmaker in the state.
The protesters, majorly from Ejigbo and Itire-Ikate LCDAs, alleged that Ajomale had tampered with the list submitted by Mustapha and in the process inserted the names of his candidates.
According to the party supporters, one Laidi Sonubi was elected chairman of the local government area since 2006, and that he did creditably well and deserved to be retured and not to be replaced. “We want the original chairman (Sonubi) to be included and M.B.T Balogun to be removed. He cannot be chairman. That is the purpose of this protest. We wish he is here, you will see that he is capable,” some of the protesters told The Source.
Speaking to The Source, Dare Bamgbade, who led the protesters said that AC is a party of justice and so believes that fairness will be done. “Why should Liadi’s name be removed from the original list and Balogun is smuggled in; it’s anti-party and undemocratic, so, we want the party to do justice,” Bamgbade said.
But Jide Olokodana, who claimed to be a party member in Ikate/Itire, rebuffed the demand of the protesters. He said that on July 13, 2008, members of the party held a meeting where it was unanimously agreed that whatever the party decides concerning the choice of the LGA chairman will be accepted to all and sundry.
“The party executives in the area on July 13, 2008 came with a verdict that whatever the decision of the party, will be binding on all of us. I believe we should accept the verdict of the state executive on the matter. I don’t know what they intend to gain in staging a protest,” Olokodana told The Source.
The protesters, who carried placards with inscriptions such as: “Mustapha’s List or Nothing,” “Ajomale is a destroyer, not a leader.”, "No to injustice,” among others, also alleged that the state party chairman deleted the name of one Olugbenga Arulogun and inserted the name of Rev. G.A. Adeda.
As the protest progressed, a black Lexus Jeep conveying the Deputy chairman of the party in the state, James Odunbaku, popularly known as Baba Eto, cruised in. When the vechile screeched to a halt at the entrance of the building, the protesters rushed at him chorusing. “Baba Eto, won ti re wa je ni Ejigbo, won ti yo oruko Arulogun kuro ninu listi ti Mustapha se” (they have cheated in Ejigbo, they have removed the name of Arulogun from the list prepared by Mustapha).
Odunbakun, adorned in traditional white attire and surrounded by a horde, of security aides, told the protesters that their demand that Arulogun’s name be included will be done. "Don’t worry, I have seen what they have done. We are going to remove Adesola’s name. We are going to put Arulogun’s name that was in the list there is no way they can do it," he said.
Efforts by journalists to make Odumbaku shed more light on the controversy proved abortive as he directed journalists to see the chairmanship candidate on the issue.
The spokesperson of the protesters, Shamsideen however informed The Source that their protest was necessary because of the way and manner a man they did not vote for came to be the one named as chairman of the area.
His words: “Arulogun is our elected chairman. He is the man that was in the original list submitted by Mustapha but when we read newspaper yesterday (Tuesday), we saw the name of Adeola conspicuously missing in the list. This is a great injustice and we would do everything at our disposal to ensure that Arulogun’s name is returned to the list and be sworn-in as the authentic candidate because Adeola is a fake candidate that we don’t recognise.”
Shamsideen stated that Arulogun was the Local Organising Committee chairman for Governor Babatude Fashola at Ejigbo during his campaign and that he worked assiduously to see that Fashola won massively in the area during the last gubernatorial poll in the state, and so wondered why such a name will be removed from the list. Shamsideen, who was seething with anger, said that for years, Ejigbo has been neglected in terms of good roads, potable water and modern infrastructure, and now that they wanted a change by putting forward Arulogun, a cabal led by Ajomale said no and decided to put a person that is a non-performer there.
Few minutes after the drama, Mustapha cruised in and said all he knew about the matter. “I still have the copy I submitted to the state executive of the party. If it is different from that one, I don’t know anything about it. But as far as I am concerned, we did a thorough job. I remember that we received a protest from Itire/Ikate and we looked into it. But unfortunately, we could not conclude on the matter and I had to leave it to the incoming executive to look.
“It was Arulogun’s name that was in the list for Ejigbo but that of Itire/Ikate was inconclusive at that time. It is unfortunate that I don’t know that the list would generate controversy, else I would have brought the list for you to see. Arulogun was in the list I submitted to the state executive at that time. Any other name, apart from Arulogun, is fake,” Mustapha said.
The Source’s effort to speak with Ajomale on the issue proved abortive, as the chairman was said to be "too busy."
Refuting the allegation, however, the Assistant Publicity Secretary of the party, Fusho Ologunde told The Source that the allegations were not true, as some people who couldn’t obey the party’s rules and regulations are the ones trying to subvert the internal democratic principles that the party is known for.
His word: “What the people failed to realise is that there’s difference between the State/Local Government Congresses Committee chaired by Mustapha in 2006 and the present state screening committee that was empowered to check aspirants, who had paid certain amount and collected forms to contest for the council’s chairmanship position. We did our congresses in 2006 to elect party officials and the outcome is now the point of controversy among some members who viewed that the list submitted by Olaitan Mustapha has been doctored. But I can tell you authoritatively that nobody has done that and those names that appear on the national dailies as published emanated from the congresses held in the state."
Speaking further, Ologunde revealed that the allegations are baseless as the party leadership had cross-checked the list from the ordinary ones and found nothing wrong.
To this end, he enjoined the party supporters to embrace peace and work for the success of the party in the forthcoming elections.
But a member of the state executive committee told The Source on condition of anonymity that indeed, some of the names of the chairmen were substituted based on consensus. He said that the party decided to have consensus candidates for the two councils because “they felt they can deliver when it comes to election. Even in Europe, they do it to make sure that their party wins election. Well, their protest is part of democracy. But it is also left for the party to decide on who they want in the interest of all members," he said.