Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State held on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 across the state has been declared illegal.
The exercise was declared illegal by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling party via the Chairman of the Lagos Governorship Electoral Panel, Mr Clement Ebri.
During the direct primary held today, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu received massive support from party faithful, leaving the incumbent Governor of the state, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, with few votes.
His deputy, Mrs Idiat Adebule, publicly announced her support for Mr Sanwo-Olu, while the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan, also declared his support for his boss’ challenger, who the party supports.
Speaking on the exercise, Mr Ebri said the primary was not properly conducted, urging party members in the state to ignore the results.
In a statement issued today, he said the distribution of electoral material was supposed to commence by 1pm, but the party structure in the state did this earlier.
According to him, the exercise was also supposed to be conducted by the APC NWC appointed officials in order to ensure a free, fair and credible primary.
“Lagosians, particularly members of the APC are hereby urged to disregard reports and footages of ongoing elections in some wards in the state, as no State party official is empowered to accredit or conduct the Lagos Gubernatorial primaries,” he said, declaring that a fresh date for the exercise would be announced later.
