APC will lose Lagos if... — Stakeholders

AN All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial aspirant in Lagos State, Senator Ganiyu Solomon and a group have warned leaders of the party to desist from actions capable of making the party lose coming elections. While Senator Solomon advocated free, fair and transparent primaries to pick candidates, the group, the New Lagos Movement (NLM) headed by Mr. Niyi Akinsiju, denounced the culture of imposition permeating the party. The group, which is an elite body within the All Progressives Congress (APC), warned that the party may certainly lose Lagos State to the PDP in 2015 if it chose to introduce religion and zoning sentiments, among others, as promoted by its leadership to impose his anointed governorship candidate on members. Specifically, the NLM boss, had in his address titled, ‘The Rough Road Ahead, ‘noted that former Governor Tinubu as one who is most guilty of the charge of imposition of his choice candidate on the party. “It is very certain that we may lose Lagos in 2015 if we allow the discredited religious and zoning sentiments recently introduced by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu through which he intends to impose his anointed candidate on the members of the party,” the APC chieftain warned. He, therefore, tasked the new leadership of party led by Chief Odigie Oyegun to urgently address the problems currently facing the party, “failure of which can destroy the party and spell doom for the democratic aspirations of millions of Nigerians.” The state Publicity Secretary of APC, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, in his reaction, declared that the party had no problem called imposition, maintaining that the APC had not yet decided on who its standard bearer for governorship poll should be. He, therefore, urged party faithful to wait till a date for the primary exercise to pick a candidate for governorship would be held.