ICYMI: APC Somolu members vow to block council election

APC members in Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State have threatened to stop the council elections scheduled for 24 July.

On Thursday, they marched peacefully to the Lagos State House of Assembly to protest against alleged imposition of a chairmanship candidate, Abdulhameed Salawu, who is the incumbent.

Salawu, popularly known as Dullar, was renominated by the party leaders to run again.

The protesters said the popular choice is the vice chairman, Bowale Sosinmi.

The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions.

Some of them read: ”Somolu Unites 4 Bowale”; ”Enough is enough”; “No Bowale, No Election”; ”Dullar must go”; ”Bowale We Know, BoBo We Trust”; ”Crisis Is Imminent At Somolu”; ”Sanwo-Olu Stop The Pending Danger At Somolu”.

One of the protesters, Jimi Olanrewaju, alleged that Salawu disrupted the primary election by locking up election officials in his office in Somolu.

According to him, no election will hold in the area, if the party leadership fails to give the mandate to Sosinmi, as he had been denied the chance to run for election thrice.

Femi Olowonle-Denmark, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, alleged that the APC did not hold a primary election in Somolu.

He said that four of the contestants agreed to nominate Sosinmi, as their preferred candidate for the chairmanship position.

Olowonle-Denmark said the imposition would be the second time it is happening, and “that is why we have appealed to Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to prevail on the party leadership to ensure that the will of the people reigns supreme.”

Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, who addressed the protesters, commended them for being peaceful.

Hamzat urged them to submit an agreement letter presenting Sosinmi as their consensus candidate, and promised that their leaders would be called to a roundtable to settle the issues amicably.