The All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives primary election held in Lagos Mainland on Saturday was thrown into controversy following allegations of widespread irregularities, voter intimidation, and disruption of the electoral process across several voting centres.
The aggrieved delegates spoke in separate interviews with correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
The disruption was reported in areas including Apapa Road, Makoko, Iwaya, Adekunle, and Old Yaba Road, where party members and delegates allegedly faced intimidation and were prevented from participating freely in the exercise.
Kazeem Omolaja and Abdulhakeem Animashaun vied for the position.
NAN reports that the development created tension and confusion as aggrieved members accused some party leaders of attempting to manipulate the process in favour of a preferred candidate.
According to eyewitnesses and party members, supporters of Omolaja allegedly disrupted the exercise by forcing out participants and delegates of Animashaun from the voting centres in the affected areas.
Speaking after the exercise, some loyalists of Animashaun rejected the outcome of the primary election, insisting that the process failed to meet acceptable democratic standards.
“We reject whatever outcome emerges from today’s election because the process was flawed and manipulated,” one of the supporters stated during the protest.
Party members present at the election grounds further called on the leadership of the APC to investigate the allegations and ensure justice for all aspirants and their supporters.
Security personnel were deployed to some of the affected centres to maintain law and order and prevent the situation from escalating further.
As of the time of filing this report, the APC leadership in Lagos Mainland had yet to issue an official statement regarding the allegations and the disruption that marred the exercise.
Samson Sambaqi, one of the APC delegates in Mainland area, described the election as incredible.
Sambaqi said that no election took place in all the wards under Mainland Local Government, while he described the exercise as marred by irregularities among the party officiating leaders.
He said: “There are so many touts chasing us with harmful objects.
“We are no longer comfortable with the oppression.”
Also speaking, Ganiyu Allison urged APC leaders to look into the election, adding that a person was counted about five times, which he said “showed there was no equity in today’s primary election in the Mainland area of Lagos”.
Another delegate, Folake Ogunlade, who also voted in the Municipal area along Apapa Road, said the election was inconclusive.
Ogunlade said she witnessed where families came and were counted one after the other without accreditation and party identification cards.
In his response during a briefing after the election process at the Mainland area of Lagos, one of the six aspirants for House of Representatives, Prince Abdul-Hakeem Animashaun, said the primary election was not free and fair.
Animashaun said before the poll, the delegates in his constituency were very happy to witness a peaceful election from the APC where he belongs.
He lamented over the desperation of some individuals, which took centre stage, adding that delegates were disappointed over the inconclusive election as a result of the disruption which took place.
He added: “Information we have before today is that all delegates should come with their membership registration slips with means of identification.
“To our surprise when we got there, they asked everybody to line up without any form of accreditation.
“Aside from that, those that conducted the primaries did not show any form of identification, not with any tag, no result sheet.
“The election materials were shown to party agents, and before we knew what was happening, they commenced the process of counting.
“They counted one person five times while the same person would go and queue for another council.”
NAN also reports that other aspirants also expressed disappointment with the primary election conducted in Lagos Mainland.
