Lagos APC Congress: Jandor Raises Concerns over GAC’s Adoption of Consensus Arrangement

• Says council not recognised

By Vanessa Obioha

Following the announcement by the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) of the Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) that the party will adopt a consensus arrangement for its ward executives ahead of its congress on Saturday, July 31, the convener of the Lagos4Lagos movement Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor)has frowned upon the decision, calling it an imposition of members by the state government.

Known for his desire to bring a turnabout in the state party, Adediran said that the decision by the GAC, a group he said was not recognised by the party at the state or federal level, was suspicious.

“If the name of the group is anything to go by, we believe it should be advising the governor on the state affairs and not the party.”

He argued that there is an electoral committee whose role should be to resolve warring factions in the state and not the GAC.

“We are not comfortable about the sharing formula that will bring about the consensus. We have the backing of the law and the party’s constitution that should look into the rulings.”

Decrying the way the party handled the just concluded local government elections,

Adediran who is also vying for the governorship seat in Lagos said that his members are yet to be given the nomination forms after payment.

“We have copies of our tellers but each time we put a call through a member of the committee to access the form, we are being told one story or the other. Does the party want to force us into the consensus?

“We have expressed our own readiness by paying for the forms. We are expecting the delegation from Abuja to give us the forms but unfortunately, the government of the state has hijacked these forms from them. Notwithstanding, we have spoken to all our members and intending party officers that pending any changes, we will all file out on Saturday and see what we can do. We are not part of the GAC meeting because the body that called that meeting is unknown to us and we cannot take directives from them. The party does not have such a decision-making forum.

“Even the people that flanked the governor are not happy deep inside but they have no choice. We know that the majority of them want to do something else. They can come out and speak anything but what’s inside is different. They also want a state where they will be recognised as elder statesmen. APC in Lagos needs a total overhaul,” he said.

Adediran also alleged that the State Governor Sanwo-Olu has selected members for the screening committee and reiterated that the movement is ready to move to the opposing party if the APC continues its norm of imposing unpopular candidates to members, citing the victory of Adeshola Thomas, a member of the movement who defected from the APC to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after he was disqualified to participate in the LG elections as an indication of the movement’s popularity. Thomas is the only elected PDP councillor in the state.