The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday said it had no hand in the leadership crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the state.
The Assistant Publicity Secretary of APC in the state, Mr Abiodun Salami, made the clarification in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
NAN reports that the PDP Lagos State Chapter is enmeshed in a leadership tussle which began after the 2019 elections, as two chieftains, Mr Segun Adewale and Dr Adegbola Dominic, are both laying claim to its chairmanship.
Adewale, a former factional Chairman of the party, had claimed that he stepped aside for Dominic to act for three months, late in 2018, under a deal sanctioned by elders of the party.
He also claimed that Dominic’s tenure had expired in December 2018 and that he (Adewale) was back to reclaim his mandate, which he claimed would expire in 2021.
Dominic had, however, described Adewale’s claim as ”arrant nonsense”, saying he was not a member of the party and had contested the governorship election in Ekiti in 2018 under the platform of the Action Democratic Party (ADP).
He said he was the authentic Chairman of the party and was the only one recognised by the zonal and national leadership of the party.
Both Dominic — an ally of a former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George — and Adewale had presided over separate stakeholders meetings of the party at the Sogunle secretariat.
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Also, both Dominic and Adewale, while addressing their different groups of supporters at the separate meetings, had accused each other of acting out the script of the APC to destabilise the party in the state.
Reacting, Salami said both groups were only seeking relevance, as the APC had no reason to interfere in the affairs of the party.
He said residents of Lagos had since abandoned PDP, and that it was ridiculous for anyone to say APC was destabilising a” dead party”.
Salami said the ruling party was preoccupied with how to further deliver dividends of democracy to Lagosians and would not be distracted by ”jesters”.
”These people are just seeking relevance. What is our business with a dead party? A party that has been rejected by Lagosians; we don’t have time for them.
”They are obviously in disarray after their embarrassing defeat at the last governorship election. They should face themselves and leave us out.
”We are busy on how to make governance better in the state, especially as another government would come on board in May. We don’t have time for frivolities,” he said.
Salami thanked residents for their continuous faith in APC and for electing Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the party’s candidate in the last governorship election.
He assured residents that Sanwo-Olu would hit the ground running as soon as he is inaugurated in May, and would consolidate on the strides of Gov.Akinwunmi Ambode.(NAN)