Updated: Lagos Govt Denies Claim Sanwo-Olu’s Challenger Was Barred From Primary
- The Lagos state government has reacted to the media reports that claimed a governorship aspirant of the ruling APC, Abdul Ahmed Olorunfemi Mustapha was barred from the primary venue on Thursday
- The chief press secretary to Lagos state governor, Gboyega Akosile, through a tweet described as untrue the claim while noting that the seats of the aspirants were made available
- Meanwhile, Mustapha, a former Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, also has Wale Oluwo, an ex-commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources to contend with at the primary
On Thursday, May 26, The Punch reports that the Lagos state governorship primary election committee of the All Progressives Congress, on Thursday, barred one of the aspirants from the venue of the primary at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in the Surulere area of the state.
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According to the newspaper, the committee prevented one of the contenders of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Abdul-Ahmed Mustapha, from the venue.
Mustapha, a former permanent secretary, ministry of energy and minerals resources in Lagos, resigned 14 months ago and had picked up the N50m governorship form of the party.
Source: Facebook
Why Mustapha was barred
Legit.ng gathered that the committee chaired by a former deputy governor of Borno state, Shettima Yuguda, claimed that Mustapha was not cleared by the screening committee of the party.
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However, the aspirant told the newspaper that he was in Abuja two weeks ago for the screening though the result was not announced.
He said the secretary of the primary election committee, Bashir Mohammed, turned him back on Thursday, saying that he was not cleared and as such cannot be given accreditation access to the venue.
Mustapha said:
“We were told that we were not cleared by the leadership of the party and as such, they only gave accreditation tags to those that were cleared.
“We went to Abuja for clearance two weeks ago. The results of the clearance were not communicated to us.
“We went to the APC state secretariat at Acme Road yesterday (Wednesday), we tried to get our accreditation tags but we were not given. We were there till 7am this morning before going to the venue of the primary.”
Efforts to reach Yuguda, Mohammed and another member of the committee, Tilewa Sijuade, proved abortive as of press time as calls to their lines rang out.
Lagos state government reacts
The Lagos state government took to the micro-blogging site to react to the development.
The chief press secretary to Lagos state governor, Gboyega Akosile on his verified Twitter page, disclosed the aspirants' seats were made available.
He described the media report as false and urged the media to do the needful.
He tweeted:
"Although I know this reporter very well and we relate too, this is bad journalism. You’re not at the event venue, where their seats are made available. @MobilePunch management should take necessary action to avoid our noble profession being taken to the dogs! Do the needful."
2023: Support group raises alarm over plot to disqualify Mustapha in Lagos APC
Earlier, Mustapha4Lagos Agenda, a support group for the actualisation of the gubernatorial ambition of Olorunfemi Mustapha, has raised the alarm over a plot to disqualify the former permanent secretary by the screening committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos state.
Mustapha is one of the two aspirants jostling to unseat the incumbent Babajide Sanwoolu with the other contestant being Olawale Oluwo, and the three aspirants would slug it out for the ruling party's ticket in a primary election scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 26.
Bukola Ogundipe, the convener of the group, alleged that the plot to get Mustapha screened out is being orchestrated from the camp of the incumbent governor, adding that Sanwo-Olu has enlisted the support of some elements within the screening committee to perfect the plan.
2023: GUTS unveils plan, takes sensitization to youths, others
Meanwhile, the Gina Unimke and Trisha Shine foundation has launched a massive plan ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In its unveiling statement issued on Thursday, May 5 in Abuja, the foundation stressed the importance of participatory democracy and a credible poll come 2023.
The statement signed by its media coordinator, Mr. Akuma Ukpo, said 2023 was critical for the future of the country and all stakeholders must be committed to ensuring that the future of the country is guaranteed.
Source: Legit.ng
