Ogun APC crisis: 26 House of Assembly candidates defect to APM

The crisis rocking the Ogun State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has deepened, as 26 candidates that emerged from the primary election for the Ogun State House of Assembly, yesterday defected to Allied Peoples Movement, APM.

Hon. Lamidi (middle) flanked by two other candidates

Addressing a press conference in Abeokuta, Hon. Lamidi Musefiu Olatunji, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved candidates, recalled that the APC held the primary election for the National Assembly and Ogun State House of Assembly seats on Sunday, 7^th October, 2018, under the supervision of a 12-member Ogun State election committee appointed by the APC National Working Committee and led by Col. Ali Ciroma (rtd).

Hon. Lamidi said that on 8^th October, 2018, Col. Ali Ciroma, who was the chairman of the election committee, announced the result of the primary election, where the 26 candidates were declared winners in their respective state constituencies.

He further informed that none of the 26 candidates was given the requisite INEC forms for the nomination by the party as candidates for the election, as at the close of nomination and substitution of candidates for the House of Assembly on 1^st December, 2018, in accordance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.

Hon. Lamidi said the 26 candidates, after several failed attempts at the state and national secretariats of the party to collect the nomination forms, resolved to actualize the mandate given to them by their party members on another political platform.

“After due consultations with our elders, members and stakeholders in the APC in Ogun State, we have come to the inevitable conclusion to seek the general mandate of our people in the 2019 elections on the platform of  the Allied Peoples Movement, APM.

“We also wish to acknowledge the fatherly role of President Muhammadu Buhari in seeking to sustain the tenets of democracy, fairness and equity in the resolution of the crisis in the APC in Ogun State.

“We regret that Mr. President’s efforts were frustrated by the forces that are hell-bent in taking the South West back to the dark age of slavery where unelected kingpins direct the affairs of the people. The people of Ogun State are renowned for successfully ascertaining their independence from such overlords and this instance shall not be different,” Lamidi said.

According to him, the 26 candidates are committed to the second term of President Muhammadu Buhari and are determined to deliver Ogun State to him in the presidential election on 16^th February, 2019.

The candidates also acknowledged the spirited efforts of Governor Ibikunle Amosun to protect their mandates from the forces of impunity, and assured him of their continued support and resolve to protect the legacy of the good work he is doing in Ogun State.

The 26 candidates, including the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Dayo Adeneye and Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Modupe Mujota, have directed all their supporters and admirers to move to APM, the party they described as the new vehicle for the development of Ogun State, as they promised to work tirelessly for the election of Hon. Adekunle Akinlade, who was denied the gubernatorial candidacy of APC, but has also defected to APM, where he will contest the 2019 gubernatorial election.