Ayodele Olalere
Local Government chairmanship aspirants under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2021 local government chairmanship election in Lagos State have threatened showdown with the Party in the state over alleged failure to refund their money used in purchasing the chairmanship aspirant forms.
The crisis was coming in a few days to the governorship election which comes up on March 11.
The 174 aggrieved aspirants said having paid over N2 million each to purchase the form, they were edged out by the party leaders in the state as those who didn’t buy the form were allowed to contest and won the election.
Some of them who spoke with The Nigerian Xpress Newspaper said the party promised to refund their money but two years later have failed to fulfill it’s promise.
They also said while aspirants into the national House of Assembly as well as the councilors have been refunded their money, they are yet to get their money back.
“Our problem within the party started after the concocted local government primaries that were historically highly contested with large numbers of aspirants, mainly youth.
The leadership in Lagos noted there were discrepancies so they removed the former chairman, Alhaji Balogun but failed to pacify members of the party especially those that purchased forms.
To now rob salt on the sore, people who lost at primaries for state and national assembly positions were refunded. Seating councilors and immediate past councilors were given N1million each while 2021 aspirants that made payment to state covers were left out after being robbed of the electoral process.
While we pledged our continued loyalty to the party and the assurance to work tediously for the re-election of our governor, I will also advise our governor to immediately refund and pay the 2021 Chairmanship aspirants back their money and also ensure all councilorship aspirants within same period are refunded,”said Honourable Niyikun, one of the aggrieved members.
Also reacting, another aggrieved member, Hon. Wale Shibi said: ” We had meeting at the party Secretariat in Acme, Ikeja , with the former Vice Chairman, Hon ibirogba, and we tabled our grievances and the agreement reached with the party chairman who promised our money will be refunded a week after the presidential election.
The incumbent Vice Chairman Hon. Maiyegun told us, he wasn’t aware of the agreement, but he heard about us and said the governor will pay us. but we need to exercise patience and later said he will discuss the matter with Mr. Governor. He also said we should be hopeful as the money will be paid hopefully before the next election on March 11,2023. but till now we didn’t see anything.”
Hon. Kunle Ogunlade, another member of the aggrieved aspirants said the leadership of the party in the state is not alive to its responsibilities.
‘The truth might be bitter. Our party slept on their bed the way they laid it and woke up accordingly Is it not the governor that selected the LGA Chairmen without due process?Many of them are people not accepted by the majority of the people in their LGA’s including the party members.Many of the LGA Chairmen are not taking care of the party members and have turned themselves to God and above the party.They have disenfranchised many party members.Like i said the governor is benefiting from his handwork.
We the aspirants that the majority accepted are the ones now begging the governor and the party leaders to accept us and consider us.We are even begging for our money they took unjustly. With all the bad treatments meted out on the majority of us we still stand by the party. On the day of the election I moved around from polling unit to polling unit spending the little change I have to entertain and encourage people while the LGA chairmen stayed in their offices.
We keep showing love but God of justice will judge everybody.Most of us are party faithful and have no other place to go.So they are capitalizing on that but God of justice is watching.Let them increase the dollars given to the above mentioned people maybe they will do better.All this is aside millions given to leaders in each LGA’s for the election that did not get to the people.God will see us through.We will keep fighting because we can not afford to let Lagos get to the hands of another party.We have become a slave of circumstances,” he lamented.
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One Hon. Abiodun also said : ” While we were showing understanding with the party and governor to refund our monies after the presidential elections, the governor paid out $10,000 each to the unpopular imposed council chairmen, commissioners and others to do mobilization for the election which they pocketed without doing anything.
One gets demoralized when you get such information on an election you went all out for including spending one’s personal money. Let them talk about our refund first, otherwise I will move nowhere for no kind of mobilisation.”
Also in his reaction, Hon. Oluwatosin Onamade, who contested for Ijede Local government chairmanship said: ” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is a gentleman of worth and dignity, an uncommonly humane and modest person, who says and makes it a reality.
I will personally be voting for Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the March 11th governorship elections but cooperation of all former chairmanship aspirants is needed.
How many elderly people or traditional elders did we see on the last day of presidential election voting? We are pleading with the governor and the executive management of our great party in Lagos state to fulfill their promises on the refund before 11th March 2023. We believe that teamwork is very important in the coming election and it shall end in praise.