No Imposition In ACN —Ajomale

The Lagos State Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Chief Henry Ajomale has debunked claims that the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the incumbent Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola imposed candidates on the people.

Since the Lagos ACN released its list of candidates for next month’s poll in Lagos, South West Nigeria, there have been protests at the ACN Secretariat on Acme Road, Ogba and the seat of power at Alausa.

Aggrieved protesters, carrying placards express their displeasure in the manner candidates were selected to run for the polls without primaries and under imposition by influential figures in the ACN.

According to Ajomale the allegations that Tinubu and Aregbesola imposed candidates on the people were completely false, saying that Tinubu had made it clear to the party leadership from the beginning that he would not be involved in the local council elections.

“He did not impose any of the candidates as some aggrieved aspirants claimed. He has not been around. So, how could he have imposed candidate?” he asked.

Ajomale added that since Aregbesola had been elected governor, this automatically disqualified him from participating in politics outside Osun State but noted that the governor, in the past had influence in local politics in Lagos.

The chairman stated that ACN made its primaries open and that it was free and fair, adding that there were avenues for aggrieved people to petition the party’s secretariat if not satisfied with the way things were being run in their councils.

He said all aspirants were given level playing ground and that the party secretariat received lots of petitions from aggrieved aspirants while all the petitions were treated on merit, saying this was why the party did not give tickets to some serving council chairmen.

Ajomale also said the decision to give some council chairmen a third term ticket was justified because they complied with the party’s directives that they stepped down for certain candidates that contested the last House of Representatives election.

While addressing some of the protesters at the State House of Assembly complex, Deputy Speaker, Hon. Kolawole Taiwo advised the aggrieved party supporters to channel their complaints to the party secretariat, saying the party would be more appropriate to address their concerns and grievances.

—Kazeem Ugbodaga